Timings and plans for the £16 million upgrade of the Guyhirn roundabout at its junction with the A141 were unveiled today as part of a £300 million A47 improvement plan.
Work is due to begin in 2019/2020 and to be complete by 2022.
Highways England also announced its preferred routes for dualling three parts of the 115 mile stretch of the A47 between Peterborough and Great Yarmouth.
The single option proposed for the Guyhirn junction will see the roundabout enlarged and the road over the River Nene Bridge widened to three lanes to ease congestion.
The Highways Agency says the junction between the A47 (Fen Road to South Brink) and the A141 (March Road) at Guyhirn “currently experiences high levels of congestion, acting as a bottleneck, leading to longer and unreliable journey times”.
They believe there are a number of reasons for these delays including:
•Roundabout traffic capacity
•Lack of lane space
•Poor visibility on the roads as drivers approach the roundabout
•The increasing traffic is outgrowing the capacity of the road, causing tailbacks and delays
Development in the local area, which can lead to potentially more vehicles on the road; if nothing is done to improve capacity and connectivity, these delays are forecast to get worse in future years.
Philip Davie, Highways England Programme Leader for the A47, said: “Delivery of these projects will improve users journey times and safety, so this work is a priority for Highways England”.
“We have listened to the publics’ views and these have helped shape and inform our approach to our proposed schemes. Work now continues, adding detail to the design for each of the dualling and junction improvements, and on planning how we will deliver them in a way that keeps traffic moving”.
The agency revealed that 77 attended the Guyhirn exhibition last month – up on the 51 that attended the Great Yarmouth display but well short of the 530 who attended when they showed A47 to proposals to people at Tuddenham near Dereham.
Around Norwich, work includes dualling of the A47 between North Tuddenham and Easton, further east, between Blofield and North Burlingham, along with junction improvements at the Thickthorn Interchange with the A11 plus two busy junctions in Great Yarmouth, on what was formerly the A12
Further west at Peterborough, the work involves dualling a busy stretch between Wansford (A1) and Sutton.
The proposals include converting almost eight miles of single carriageway to dual carriageway and making improvements to junctions across the route
Six consultations were held between March 13 and April 21 this year. In total, 1,447 people had their say, with 1,333 attending the 19 public events. The six projects are all part of the Government’s £15 billion investment in England’s motorways and major A roads, with £3 billion of that being invested in the East of England.
The single option proposed for the Guyhirn junction will see the roundabout enlarged and the road over the River Nene Bridge widened to three lanes to ease congestion.
The six projects are all part of the Government’s record £15 billion investment in England’s motorways and major A roads, with £3 billion of that being invested in the East of England.
Subject to statutory processes, work on the six projects could begin as early as March 2020, with completion dates starting from March 2021. NE Cambs Steve Barclay said when the scheme for Guyhirn was first unveiled that he still wanted to see the A47 between Wisbech and Thorney become a dual carriageway.
He feels the Guyhirn improvements “need to be used as a step towards the strategically critical dualling of the A47 from Wisbech to Thorney, which is essential for the area’s economic growth.
“We still need more investment in our infrastructure. Getting the A47 dualled between Wisbech and Peterborough is essential for this area’s future economic growth.”
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