After decades of waiting the first vehicles could be driving on the newly dualled A11 by the end of this month with a short section set to open.

The first stretches of the final part of the A11 waiting to be dualled at Fiveways roundabout near Barton Mills have been laid with road tar and these photos show how quickly work has progressed.

One stretch north of the Fiveways roundabout has been laid with road tar since Thursday.

A second stretch, around 200 metres long, known as the How Hill Tumulus was surfaced in the last weeks.

Highways Agency project manager Geoff Chatfield confirmed: 'Works are progressing as planned.

'We are now constructing the new carriageway at How Hill Tumulus and we hope to open this short section to traffic later this month.'

The campaign from business leaders, politicians and the community for a complete dualling of the A11 has been going on for decades.

The project is costing around £100m but it is hoped it will bring £500m in benefits to the region's economy and cut journey times to London by 25 minutes.

It is hoped that the complete stretch of road from the Fiveways roundabout to Elveden will open in late 2014 with delays and road closures expected until then. Fiveways roundabout will be closed for reconstruction for the first three weekends in October, with preparatory work taking place between July and September leading to overnight lane closures.

Mr Chatfield said: 'We will do all we can to minimise the disruption this will cause and we hope road users, local businesses and residents will bear with us whilst we carry out these essential improvement works.'