A £1.63m investment is to be made to replace a Hales junction which has the worst accident record for a main road in Norfolk.

Eastern Daily Press: Hales roadworksHales roadworks (Image: Archant)

The t-junction of the A146 and B1136 at Hales will be removed in favour of a roundabout in a bid to cut the number of crashes at the site.

The A146 is the main route between Norwich and Lowestoft and increasing levels of traffic have contributed to a high number of accidents at or near the junction.

Over the past 10 years, 50 people have been injured, one person has died and there have been countless more minor crashes.

Norfolk County Council yesterday announced the £1.63m investment, with construction set to get underway early next year, with the aim of completing the project in Spring 2018.

Eastern Daily Press: Hales junctionHales junction (Image: Archant)

Margaret Stone, County Councillor for the Clavering ward which includes Hales, said: 'This is such good news for anyone who uses these roads regularly.

'The current junction was simply not designed for the level of traffic that is now has to cope with and using it safely often entails long waits which is having a significant impact on people living in Hales and Heckingham, and others.

'This is an excellent use of public money, not only making it easier to get around the south-east of the county but also helping to keep people safe.'

The new roundabout is being built to improve the junction's safety record and help to keep traffic moving to reduce journey times.

The money for the roundabout at Hales comes from £5.1 million of funding Norfolk County Council received from the Government's National Productivity Investment Fund in January.

As well as the roundabout, around £2 million will be spent on resurfacing roads and £400,000 on drainage improvements across the county.

The remaining money will be spent on a variety of smaller schemes.

These include measures to reduce congestion along key routes and to fund design work for other potential improvements.

Martin Wilby, chairman of the Norfolk County Council's Environment, Transport and Development Committee, said: 'Good roads and other transport networks really are vital to the county's success.'

What do you think of the proposal? Email kieran.lynch@archant.co.uk