More than £20m is to be spent to fill in pot-holes and fix bridges around Norfolk, including £1.2m to repair Great Yarmouth’s Haven Bridge and half a million pounds to resurface a road through a village.
Dozens of roads will be resurfaced, pot-holes filled in, traffic lights replaced, footpaths repaired and new drainage put in using the money.
The government had given £22.2m from its Pot-hole Fund to County Hall, to be spent during 2020/21 and the council has revealed where it intends to spend the money.With £1.6m already budgeted for, it leaves just over £20.6m to be spent elsewhere and, despite the fund’s name, it does not have to be restricted to pot-holes.
£2.5m is to be spent resurfacing the county’s A-roads, including, in Norwich, £225,000 on the junction of Hall Road and Ipswich Road, £163,000 at Boundary Road and £150,000 on Sweet Briar Road.
Elsewhere, more than £180,000 will be used on the A140 at Horsford, next to the Norwich Northern Distributor Road, £140,000 on the A1122 in Downham Market and £143,000 on the A1066 at Roydon.
A further £2.5m will be spent resurfacing B-roads, including £520,000 on the B1332 through Poringland, £320,000 on the B1145 in Billingford, £170,000 on the B1112 in Methwold and £165,000 on the B1159 in Stalham.
Another £3.5m will be spent to resurface C-roads and unclassified roads, including Fen roads in West Norfolk.
Some £2.2m is earmarked to be spent on repairing bridges, including £1.2m on electrical and mechanical repairs to Haven Bridge in Great Yarmouth.
Last summer, the bridge became stuck in the lifted position, leading to long delays.Police advised people to avoid the area as engineers from Peel Ports worked to fix the problem which saw the two sides of the bascule bridge wedged several feet apart.
The council says spending money on the bridge will increase its reliability. And officers say that, combined with the future construction of the Great Yarmouth Third River Crossing, will help minimise inconvenience if problems do arise.
A further £279,000 will be used to repair the A149 Wayford Bridge at Smallburgh, while £1.5m will go towards repairs and maintenance of footpaths.
The Conservative-controlled cabinet at the county council is set to agree the spending when it meets on Monday, July 6.
Martin Wilby, cabinet member for highways and transport at Norfolk County Council, said: “The proposals that will be discussed show we can get a great deal done to make improvements right across our highway network with this very welcome funding.
“They include repairing roads and the Haven Bridge as well as improvements to footways, cycleways and public footpaths.
“I’m sure these will be welcomed by road users and pedestrians alike.”
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