Efforts to come up with an alternative to the ditched Norwich Western Link route have been caught up in limbo, say frustrated council leaders.
Senior councillors at Norfolk County Council say they are being hamstrung in their efforts to put forward a different route or alternative solution for the controversial road.
But critics said the Conservative-led council should have had a Plan B in place long ago - and accused them of looking to 'kick the can' down the road, so it stops being their problem.
The death knell for the council's chosen route for the £274m road, to connect the Northern Distributor Road to the A47, was sounded earlier this year, when the government said it would not go ahead in its current form.
It came after Natural England objected to the 3.9-mile road, which included a viaduct over the Wensum Valley, because of the presence of protected bats along the route.
The organisation also said it would not award the environmental licence needed to build the road. The council withdrew its plans.
Ministers told the council it would have to come up with alternatives to tackle rat-running in locations such as Costessey and Weston Longville.
That prompted speculation previously rejected routes for the road could be revived or a new route proposed.
But Graham Plant, County Hall's cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure, said that was not proving a simple task.
Mr Plant said: "We have discussions going forward with the Department for Transport on the Western Link to find a solution to the problem.
"But the problem we have is that Natural England, as a consultee, cannot do what I want them to do, which is to show me an area where we could do something.
"All we could do is put forward a proposed route and then they'd respond through the planning process, but we can't just put in a number of different suggestions and hope one of them is acceptable.
"I am trying to get to a point where we can have a reasonable conversation about where the road could go, so we can go forward."
Mr Plant said the situation was further stymied by the government's spending review, which is considering what money will be available for road projects.
The county council has, so far, spent £56m on the project. The authority received a boost when the government confirmed it would not be expected to pay back £33m previously given towards the scheme.
There have been suggestions, that, rather than a new road, the existing A1067 Fakenham Road and the B1535 through Weston Longville could be upgraded.
But critics have said better public transport, rather than a new road, should be a key part of alternative proposals.
Steve Morphew, leader of the Labour group at Norfolk County Council, said: "Without a Plan B, or any contingency, the Conservative administration is desperately looking for ways of preventing their incompetent handling of the Norwich Western Link from tipping the council into a financial crisis.
"Kicking the can solves nothing, but means the whole mess may be overtaken by the new mayor and local government reorganisation.
"It leaves someone else with the legacy of a failed scheme, financial black hole and everybody on all sides of the Norwich Western Link debate with their heads in their hands in disbelief that so much could be spent, over such a long time, so badly."
David Pett, from the Stop the Wensum Link campaign group, said: "It’s frankly astonishing that the council continues to cling to what is now clearly a dead project.
"After spending £56m and many years pursuing a route that Natural England will not support, it beggars belief that they would consider starting over with a similar plan.
"To begin again with a new route would mean years more delay, further environmental harm, and an extraordinary additional cost to the taxpayer—all for a road that the public have overwhelmingly opposed.
"The sensible path now is to admit the failure of this approach and to invest in a true Plan B: practical, affordable alternatives that address the region’s transport needs without destroying the Wensum Valley."
Share