Motorists warned of delays on busiest route into Norfolk town

Motorists heading for King's Lynn are being asked to be patient while resurfacing work on one of the busiest roads in the town is carried out.

The London Road will become a one-way street during the project which is due to start immediately after Easter.

Norfolk County Council has been consulting with businesses in the town to try and ensure the work casues with the least amount of disruption, but drivers are likely to face delays while the scheme is carried out.

An option to use a bus lane across Hardings Pits, for cars to get access into the town centre has been ruled out because officials are concerned a 'pinchpoint' on the route would see a large vehicle getting stuck.

'It would only be suitable for light vehicles and we know that something large will try to use it and will get stuck, which would cause a major problem,' said a council spokesman.

'The county council has considerable reservations about using the new Hardings Way bus link for general traffic, and prefers the options which would use Vancouver Avenue. On balance, the county council engineers prefer London Road to remain open to inbound traffic, but is anxious to hear the views of others before reaching a decision,' he added.

The first stage of the roadworks will see the area from the Southgates roundabout to the Millfleet junction resurfaced. The council hopes work will start on Easter Monday and it is this stage which will see the London Road become one-way.

While this is being done, workmen will also be on Hardwick Road to widen a short stretch heading out of Lynn which is currently single-lane.

The second stage of the process sees the road from Millfleet to Railway Road resurfaced, but this can be done at night and the amount of disruption should be less than during the first phase, according to the county council.

Lynn is in for a 'difficult' year for roadworks, said the council spokesman, as a new roundabout will be built on the A149 Hunstanton road in September, The roundabout will serve a new Sainsbury's store for the town, but roadworks on the busy road will also cause delays on the only route to the coast from Lynn.