Preliminary work starts on £300m A47 dualling plan

The A47 between Blofield and North Burlingham. Pic: Highways England. (Image: Highways England)

Teams have been spotted completing groundwork on stretches set to be included in the £300m series of upgrades along the road.

Sites between Norwich and Great Yarmouth and Tuddenham and Easton are being examined by workers to check there are not any important archaeological sites underneath the proposed project.

Environmental and ecological surveys are also ongoing to make sure the planned development will not disturb bats, water voles, toads and newts.

Highways England programme lead for the A47 Peter Havlicek said: “We have also done more ground investigations and surveys, including using radar to detect underground plastic water and gas pipes; traffic surveys; and air quality monitoring. Our environment and ecology surveys are continuing.”

The A47 between Blofield and North Burlingham. Pic: Highways England. (Image: Highways England)

READ MORE: Q&A: What you need to know about A47 duallingHighways England first announced its preferred option for dualling the five miles of the A47 between North Tuddenham to Easton and adding two new junctions in August 2017.

It is hoped the multi-million pound plan could save commuters up to seven minutes on journeys, improve safety and boost the economy.

In February, the agency held consultations asking the public to share their views on the plans and released the maps of the proposed routes. Since the consultation, further changes have been made to a section between Blofield and North Burlingham to improve safety.Mr Havlicek said: “Whilst around half of the A47 is already dual carriageway, the Blofield to North Burlingham section is not. Sandwiched between two dual carriageway sections, this stretch of the road acts as a bottleneck, resulting in congestion and slower journey times.“We’ve refined our proposals to address the common themes and concerns raised, whilst ensuring that the project solves the traffic problem, improves journey times and improves safety as key considerations.”Changes to the proposals include: safety improvements to the Yarmouth Road junction by closing the right turn and adding a lane to join the A47; a bridge over the new dual carriageway to connect Blofield and North Burlingham; a two-tier junction connecting South Walsham Road with Coxhill Road.

The selected route for the dualling between North Tuddenham and Easton on the A47. Pic: Highways England. (Image: Highways England)