Part of Norwich’s ring road will be closed for five nights from Monday as work on a controversial move aimed at cutting congestion continues.

Work on the £850,000 scheme in the Colman Road area began at the end of January and was due to be completed in mid-April, but it was delayed due to the coronavirus lockdown.

That work has now restarted, but plans to get carriageway lines painted and cutting traffic signal loops into the road, all done this week were scuppered due to the weather.

Instead, the A140 ring road will need to be closed at the junction of Colman Road and South Park Avenue, between Unthank Road and North Park Avenue, between 7pm and 6am from Monday, June 15 until Friday, June 19.

Norfolk County Council said “appropriate” diversion routes would be in place during these times to direct traffic around the works.

The council said its contractor would maintain access to properties within the extents of the closure whenever possible, but that might be restricted at times and there could be delays.

A spokesman said: “We would like to thank all those affected for their patience while work takes place.”

The ring road work includes changes to traffic light timings, alterations to crossings and the narrowing of the pavement at South Park Avenue.

Transport for Norwich bosses said the work will reduce congestion on the ring road, but the changes have been opposed by parents of children at nearby Colman Infant and Junior Schools, who staged protests against the changes.

Jo Phillips, one of the group who opposed the scheme, recently said the council should use the opportunity of the government’s call, in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic, to make roads safer for pedestrians and cyclist.

She urged the council to rethink the plan, highlighting the narrowness of the path at South Park Avenue, which she said would make it hard for social distancing.

But a spokesman for Transport for Norwich said they intended to complete the work as planned.

The work is being funded by a £650,000 grant from the New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund along with an extra £200,000 from the county council.