News on NWL Initial Views

After months of work, we can today reveal four shortlisted road options for a Norwich Western Link. You can find a map showing these routes and a description of each of the options below.

Earlier this year, you'll probably remember that our first Norwich Western Link public consultation established there was very strong support for creating a new link between the A47 and Broadland Northway (formerly Northern Distributor Road), with the majority of those who responded suggesting a new road as their preferred solution. The consultation was prompted by long-standing concerns about traffic congestion on roads and in communities to the west of Norwich and calls from many people to fill in what they saw as the ‘missing link’ between the A47 and Broadland Northway.

Three new dual carriageway roads and a single carriageway upgrade to the B1535 make up the shortlisted options. While the majority of the new or improved roads would be built at or near ground level, viaduct-style bridges over river flood plains are included in some of the options. All of the routes also include improvements to the A1067 Fakenham Road.

The work to shortlist these routes as a potential Norwich Western Link followed Department for Transport assessment guidelines and included traffic surveys and modelling, gathering information on environmental and ecological factors in the area and developing a longlist of road and non-road options.

The shortlisted options, from west to east, are:

Option A – a 7.2 mile single carriageway upgrade to the B1535 and A1067, linking to the A47 at the Wood Lane junction north of Honingham. This option would significantly realign the current B road, smoothing it out to make it a higher standard route. The route would join the A1067 via a new junction at Lenwade and make use of the existing bridge across the River Wensum at Attlebridge.

It is predicted this route would carry around 10,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £60 million.

Option B – a new dual carriageway route and dual carriageway upgrade of the A1067 totalling 5.2 miles, with the new route to the east of Weston Longville and linking to the A47 at Wood Lane. At the northern end of this route, two alternatives are given for how it could join the A1067. One would be via a new junction near Attlebridge which would include widening the existing River Wensum bridge at Attlebridge. The other would see a new 660 metre viaduct crossing of the Wensum created, joining the A1067 further to the east.

It is predicted this route would carry around 30,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £155 million based on the viaduct alternative as this has a higher cost.

Option C – a new dual carriageway route and dual carriageway upgrade of the A1067, linking to the A47 at Wood Lane and totalling 3.9 miles. Around 350 metres of the A1067 would be dualled before a new junction would take the route between Weston Longville and Ringland, crossing the River Wensum on a 720 metre-long viaduct.

It is predicted this route would carry around 32,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £153 million.

Option D – a new dual carriageway route and dual carriageway upgrade of the A1067 totalling 3.6 miles. The route is similar to Option C at its northern end, however it then runs to the west of Ringland and links to the A47 further east at the junction with Taverham Road. Around 400 metres of the A1067 would be dualled before a new junction would take the route between Weston Longville and Ringland, crossing the River Wensum on a 660 metre-long viaduct, then turning more to the south and crossing the River Tud on a second viaduct, this one 120 metres long, before it meets the A47.

It is predicted this route would carry around 31,000 vehicles a day by 2040. The estimated cost is £161 million.

While road options came out as the most effective Norwich Western Link, we will still consider complementing any of these options with other transport measures such as walking and cycling routes and traffic management measures on other roads.

Councillors on our Environment, Development and Transport Committee will be asked next Friday (9 November) to give their approval of this shortlist and proceed with a public consultation on them between 26 November 2018 and 18 January 2019. You can read the full report on the Norwich Western Link options that councillors will receive You can read the full report on the Norwich Western Link options that councillors will receive here .

The consultation will help us identify a preferred option for a Norwich Western Link, which we intend to do by next spring. Further details on the routes will be published to coincide with the consultation’s launch, and we'll update you when we've confirmed when and where our consultation events will take place. Watch this space.

So when the consultation begins, we'd encourage you to look through all the information available before responding, and if you have any questions that the published consultation information doesn’t answer, please let us know – whether in person at one of our dedicated consultation events or by email.