Map reveals the most serious crashes on the NDR since it fully opened
Police figures show 61 serious crashes on the NDR since it fully opened. - Credit: Archant
New figures have revealed the most serious crashes on Norwich's Northern Distributor Road since it was fully opened - and where they happened.
Police figures show 61 crashes which resulted in injury or fatalities since the road, also known as the Broadland Northway, completely opened in April 2018.
Of those crashes, one was a fatality - the tragic death of 49-year-old David Powell, from Attleborough.
Nine crashes resulted in serious injuries and there were slight injuries in 51 of the crashes.
Particular crash clusters were at or close to the North Walsham Road and Wroxham Road roundabouts.
The figures were obtained following a Freedom Of Information Act request to Norfolk Constabulary by Pete Boddy, a member of the NDR Norwich Northern Distributor Road Facebook group.
They take in the period from April 2018 up to December 8 last year.
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While parts of the £205m road were open before 2018, April 17 that year was when it fully opened to traffic.
From then until the end of 2018, there were 23 crashes which resulted in serious or slight injuries.
In 2019, there were 27, including the death of Mr Powell, who died close to Horsham St Faith in August 2019.
His car had struck a deer, and, after he got out, he was hit by two vehicles.
Norwich City fan David Powell was killed in a crash on the Norwich Northern Distributor Road (Picture: Archant Library) - Credit: Archant
In 2020, with fewer drivers travelling due to the coronavirus pandemic, there were 11 crashes on the road.
An overturned lorry on one of the NDR roundabouts. - Credit: Archant
The design of the road and, particularly the roundabouts, has come under fire, with driving instructors among those saying a combination of poor driving and the design has contributed to crashes.
Over the past 12 months, the council has spent almost £60,000 on remedial and repair work, including to fix kerbs and signs damaged in crashes.
The council says it has put in new safety measures, including revised road markings at the Wroxham Road roundabout, slow down and countdown markers on the approach to roundabouts and 'get in lane now' signs.
Almost £60,000 more has been spent to repair and make the NDR safer in the past 12 months. - Credit: Archant
A council spokesman said: "In this time, we have seen a falling trend in personal injury accidents which will be partly due to the reduced level of traffic relating to Covid-19 restrictions.
"However, we will continue to monitor the safety performance of this 19-kilometre stretch of A road.”
