Fears have been raised that a mooted £20m plan to scrap a busy Norfolk roundabout could turn it into a "spaghetti junction".
Norfolk County Council is preparing a formal request for the money from the government’s Levelling Up Fund to “dispense with" the Southgates roundabout in King's Lynn and update the junction to allow for regeneration of the surrounding area.
In addition, the scheme would create a new gyratory - a circular junction, more complex than an ordinary roundabout - which will focus on Railway Road and introduce cycle lanes and measures to advantage bus services.
The gyratory had been planned to be built using money from Lynn’s £25m Town Deal pot of government funding, but had been scrapped from that scheme to help pay for increases to the cost of other projects, such as refurbishing the town’s Guildhall.
Local county councillor, independent Alexandra Kemp, was sceptical about the proposal, saying it would necessitate “a spaghetti junction” and potentially require flyovers.
“The traffic won't be able to get around properly, it will be going in loops, which will actually create more pollution and congestion than anything else,” she said.
Ms Kemp also expressed concern over whether green space would be lost for the scheme and how the project will be fully funded, if, as the council states, it could cost up to £30m.
And she questioned why the scheme had not been mentioned at the county council’s cabinet meeting on Monday June 6, adding that she would be formally asking for the project to be examined by councillors before the request for funds is sent to the government.
The scheme has received the support of local Conservative MP James Wild, who has, according to the county council, attended several briefing sessions on the project.
The county authority intends to work closely with the borough council, who have for some years been carrying out master-planning work on how to regenerate the area around the roundabout.
Stuart Dark, the borough council’s Conservative leader, said: “We welcome the proposal being put forward by Norfolk County Council and are pleased they have chosen King’s Lynn as the focus for this bid.
“We are very much in support of any schemes that could help reduce congestion in the town and bring about improvements to air quality as well as improving opportunities for people to travel in an active and clean way.”
The county council was approached for comment.
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