A47 Blofield to North Burlingham

Latest updates

• 01 November 2024

  Public engagement events and overnight closures of A47

  There will be an opportunity to meet our construction team delivering improvements to the A47 between Blofield and North Burlingham.

  Engagement events

  Date: Monday 4 November 9am - 3pm

  Location: Acle Co-op, Norwich road, Acle, Norwich NR13 3BY

  Date: Tuesday 5 November 9am - 5pm

  Location: Blofield Norwich Camping & Leisure, 58 Yarmouth Road, Blofield, Norwich, NR13 4LQ

  Closure of A47 between Acle roundabout and Postwick

  We are closing the A47 between The Acle roundabout and Postwick between Tuesday 19 November through to Friday 22 November.

  Urgent resurfacing work is required to improve the condition of the Cucumber Lane roundabout making it safer and smoother for everyone using it.

  The work will take place on weeknights between 8pm and 6am, weather permitting.

  A47 eastbound diversion

  The eastbound diversion is:

  • A47 Cucumber Lane roundabout
  • A47 Westbound
  • A146 Southbound
  • A143 Northbound
  • A47 Westbound to Acle roundabout

  View the A47 Yarmouth Road eastbound diversion route.

  A47 westbound diversion

  The westbound diversion is:

  • A47 Acle Roundabout
  • A47 Eastbound
  • A143 Southbound
  • A146 Northbound
  • A47 Eastbound to Cucumber Lane Roundabout

  View the A47 Yarmouth Road westbound diversion route.

  Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England website. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.

• 04 September 2024

  More information about closures and diversions in September 2024

  We’re expanding the information we gave you in August.

  We’ve added details of overnight closures between Acle roundabout and Postwick Interchange that may affect your journeys. Here are the details.

  A47 Yarmouth Road - Monday 2 September 2024 to Friday 20 September 2024

  We’ll close eastbound and westbound carriageways between Cucumber Lane roundabout and Acle roundabout overnight (8pm to 6am) Monday to Saturday.

  These closures are needed to move utilities.

  We’ll escort North Burlingham residents through roadworks from the western junction of Main Road with the A47 Yarmouth Road to Dell Corner Lane.

  A47 eastbound diversion

  The eastbound diversion is:

  • A47 Cucumber Lane roundabout
  • A47 Westbound
  • A146 Southbound
  • A143 Northbound
  • A47 Westbound to Acle roundabout.

  View the A47 Yarmouth Road eastbound diversion route

  A47 westbound diversion

  The westbound diversion is:

  • A47 Acle Roundabout
  • A47 Eastbound
  • A143 Southbound
  • A146 Northbound
  • A47 Eastbound to Cucumber Lane Roundabout

  View the A47 Yarmouth Road westbound diversion route 

  Additional overnight closures between Acle roundabout and the Postwick Interchange - 12 and 13 September

  We’ll close Acle roundabout and the end sections of New Road and the A1064 overnight (8pm to 6am) on Thursday 12 and Friday 13 September for resurfacing work.

  We’ll also close the A47 between Acle and Vauxhall roundabout in Great Yarmouth.

  The westbound A47 will be fully closed but the eastbound A47 will only be closed by default, due to the roundabout being closed.

  Traffic coming from Branch Road will be able to join the eastbound A47 to Great Yarmouth.

  These closures aren’t part of scheme works but they’ll affect traffic between Acle and Postwick or Great Yarmouth.

  Strategic diversion (for HGVs)

  The eastbound diversion is:

  • from the A47 at Trowse Newton southbound on the A146
  • join the A143 at Gillingham
  • re-join the A47 at Beccles Road, A47 interchange. 

  The diversion for westbound traffic is the same route in reverse.

  View the Acle roundabout and Postwick Interchange east and westbound diversion route

  Local diversion to Great Yarmouth

  Drivers travelling eastbound to Great Yarmouth will:

  • travel along the A1064
  • exit the A1064 and continue straight onto the A149
  • travel southbound to rejoin the A47 at Acle New Road.

  View the diversion route to or from Great Yarmouth

  Local diversion to Postwick

  Drivers travelling westbound to Postwick will:

  • exit the A1064
  • turn right onto Old Road and continue to Acle Road via Bridewell Lane and South Walsham Road
  • go through South Walsham and join the B1140, continuing straight over Norwich Road Roundabout to Norwich Road
  • turn left at Broadland Northway
  • follow southbound to the Postwick Interchange.

  View the diversion route for Acle - Postwick

  A47 Blofield - B1140 South Walsham Road – 4 September to 21 September

  We’ll close the B1140 South Walsham Road at its junction with the A47 Yarmouth Road from Wednesday 4 September midnight to Saturday 21 September 6am.

  There’ll be no access to and from South Walsham Lane (B1140) at its junction with A47 Yarmouth Road (southbound and northbound) during this closure.

  Northbound diversion

  Drivers heading northbound will:

  • follow B1140 Newport Road which becomes Chameryhall Lane
  • turn sharp right at its junction with Panxworth Road
  • follow the road where it becomes The Street in South Walsham and then Acle Road
  • follow Acle Road and turn right at its junction with The Windle and follow this road until it reaches its junction with A47
  • turn right (third exit) onto the A47 Yarmouth Road

  View the A47 Blofield – B1140 northbound diversion route

  Southbound diversion

  Drivers heading southbound will:

  • continue on the A47 and after the layby on the left turn next left at its junction with The Windle
  • follow the road turning left at its junction with Acle Road which becomes the Street in South Walsham and then Panxworth Road
  • at its junction with Chameryhall Lane, turn left and follow the road which then becomes Newport Road B1140 and then South Walsham Road

  View the A47 Blofield – B1140 southbound diversion route

  Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England site. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.

  Read about our progress on this project in our latest A47 newsletter.

• 19 August 2024

  Road closures and diversions September 2024

  A47 between Blofield and Acle

  From Monday 2 September 2024 there are significant overnight road closures on the A47 from between Cucumber Lane roundabout (also known as Brundall roundabout) and Acle roundabout.

  Road Closures

  A47 Yarmouth Road Eastbound and Westbound carriageways between Cucumber Lane roundabout and Acle roundabout will be closed overnight 8:00pm to 6:00am (Monday to Saturday) from Monday 2 September 2024 to Friday 20 September 2024.

  These closures will allow us to complete moving utility infrastructure as part of the scheme.

  Residents of North Burlingham will be escorted through the roadworks from the western junction of Main Road with the A47 Yarmouth Road to Dell Corner Lane.

  Diversions

  A47 Eastbound Traffic

  A47 Cucumber Lane roundabout, A47 Westbound, A146 Southbound, A143 Northbound, A47 Westbound to Acle roundabout.

  View the Eastbound diversion route

  A47 Westbound Traffic

  A47 Acle Roundabout, A47 Eastbound, A143 Southbound, A146 Northbound, A47 Eastbound to Cucumber Lane Roundabout

  View the Westbound diversion route 

  A47 Blofield - B1140 South Walsham Road - road closure

  At midnight on Wednesday 4 September the B1140 South Walsham Road at its junction with the A47 Yarmouth Road will be closed until 6am on Saturday 21 September. There will be no access to and from South Walsham Lane (B1140) at its junction with A47 Yarmouth Road (southbound and northbound) during this road closure.

  Diversions

  Northbound

  • Follow B1140 Newport Road which becomes Chameryhall Lane
  • Turn sharp right at its junction with Panxworth Road and follow the road where it becomes The Street in South Walsham and then Acle Road.
  • Follow Acle Road and turn right at its junction with The Windle and follow this road until it reaches its junction with A47.
  • Turn right (third exit) onto the A47 Yarmouth Road.

  View the Northbound diversion route

  Southbound

  • Continue on the A47 and after the layby on the left turn next left at its junction with The Windle.
  • Follow the road turning left at its junction with Acle Road which becomes the Street in South Walsham and then Panxworth Road.
  • At its junction with Chameryhall Lane, turn left and follow the road which then becomes Newport Road B1140 and then South Walsham Road.

  View the Southbound diversion route

  Please remember that closures can change at short notice. You can check the latest information on our daily closures page or find live travel information on our Traffic England site. Our travel alerts give details of live incidents on our network.

• 31 May 2024

  The Supreme Court decision – permission to appeal refused

  On Wednesday 29 May, The Supreme Court ruled that an appeal against the A47 schemes should not go ahead. We will provide an update about the schemes in due course.

  We would also encourage you to sign up for updates to keep directly informed of scheme developments.

• 23 February 2024

  A47 schemes judicial review Court of Appeal outcome – Dismissed

  On 22 February, we received the outcome of the appeal against the Judicial Review Process for the three improvement schemes on the A47. 

  Three judges found that the Development Consent Orders (DCOs), previously granted by the Secretary of State for Transport, were properly assessed by the government for the cumulative effects of carbon, and will stand.  

  This means we can now begin work on developing our plans for the construction phase of the project and when we will be able to start work on the three schemes along the A47, improving customer journeys, enhancing safety and supporting economic growth in the region.   

  We will provide further updates on the progress of our plans and start of works in due course. 

• 03 November 2023

  Update on the legal challenge

  A legal case heard in July 2023 had challenged the decisions from the Secretary of State for Transport to grant development consent orders (DCOs) for this and two other A47 improvement schemes near Norwich. The High Court judge, Mrs Justice Thornton, dismissed the claimant’s argument.

  However, on 18 October 2023, the Court of Appeal granted the claimant a right to have his appeal heard. 

  We have been advised that the one-day hearing will be held on 16 January 2024. 

  Allowing the appeal to be heard is disappointing, causing further delay to these schemes. This is a difficult turn of events for those of us who recognise and support the safety case to upgrade key stretches of this very busy road.

  As we have done throughout this process, National Highways will continue to respect the decision of the court.

  In the meantime, we are taking time to fully consider our next steps. This includes what work can continue at our sites to ensure the areas remain safe and with as little disruption and disturbance to those living nearby as possible.

  For the A47 Blofield to North Burlingham and A47 Tuddenham to Easton schemes, we have completed a number of preconstruction works such as archaeology, surveys and utilities. Our contractors are in place and we will be ready to re-commence works once the legal process is concluded.

  We remain committed to delivering these plans, and confident that they will provide significant improvements to both safety and congestion on the A47, as well as helping to boost the regional economy.

• 03 August 2023

  Update on the A47 Norwich schemes

  We have received notification that an appeal on the court’s decision to reject the claims in the judicial review of our three Norwich schemes has been submitted.

  What does this mean?

  The Court of Appeal must now decide whether to grant the claimant permission to appeal. National Highways will be taking all necessary steps to challenge the application. 

  Next steps

  To avoid any further delays, we can continue to carry out early works, such as archaeology, compound set up and utility diversions, on the schemes while we await the court’s decision.

  We stand by our plan to deliver these important schemes and remain confident they can deliver significant improvements to both safety and congestion on the A47, as well as providing a significant boost to the regional economy.

• 07 July 2023

  A47 Norwich schemes – outcome of judicial review

  We have been informed by the High Court that the claims in the judicial review held on 10-11 May 2023 have been rejected, and found in favour of the Secretary of State for Transport.
  
  The judicial review challenged the decisions made by the Secretary of State for Transport in granting development consent orders (DCO) to three A47 road improvement schemes near Norwich.

  The news means that the DCO decisions for these schemes still stand.
  Among the main grounds for the legal challenges was how cumulative carbon is assessed by the government at a national level. This has been fundamentally rejected by the High Court on all grounds.

  We welcome the outcome, which means we can continue our work to deliver these much-needed schemes:

  • New dual carriageway and junctions between A47 Blofield and North Burlingham
  • New dual carriageway and junctions between A47 North Tuddenham and Easton 
  • Redevelopment of Thickthorn junction (where A11 meets the A47 south of Norwich)

  Next steps

  Work on these schemes has previously been limited while we were awaiting the outcome of the judicial review. Now that we have this clarity, we are working with our contractor to establish new construction timescales. We intend to start work on the three affected schemes as soon as possible.

  Face-to-face public information events

  Over the next few months, we’ll hold another round of face-to-face public information events. Come along to meet the team and hear about our construction plans at the following locations: 

  • Wednesday 26 July, 10am to 4pm at Norwich Camping and Leisure, 58 Yarmouth Road, Blofield, Norwich, NR13 4LQ 
  • Thursday 27 July, 10am to 4pm at Acle Coop, Norwich Road, Acle, Norwich, NR13 3BY 
  • Friday 28 July, 8am to 6pm at Castle Quarter Shopping Centre, (near Starbucks) 100 Castle Mall, Norwich NR1 3DD
  • Monday 4 September, 10am to 5pm at Tesco, Kingston Road, Dereham NR19, 1WB
  • Monday 11 September, 9am to 4pm at Tesco, Ipswich Road, Norwich, NR4 6DZ 

• 21 December 2022

  Update on the A47 legal challenge

  A legal challenge has been made to the Secretary of State (SoS) for Transport's decision to grant Development Consent Order (DCO) for our three A47 schemes:

  • A47 Blofield to North Burlingham
  • A47 North Tuddenham to Easton
  • A47/A11 Thickthorn junction

  The challenge mainly focuses on the way cumulative carbon assessments were carried out, along with local carbon plans, bat licences and the completeness of the briefings given to the Ministers prior to the decisions.

  On 14 December the High Court held an oral hearing for the claimant to put their arguments to a judge as to why the challenges should proceed to a judicial review. At this hearing the judge granted permission for a substantive hearing, mainly on the grounds of how cumulative carbon is assessed by government at a national level, so the case will now progress to a full judicial review.

  A judicial review is the process of challenging the lawfulness of decisions made by public authorities, including central government, so this will now decide whether the SoS acted lawfully. The challenge to the A47 schemes is not on the schemes themselves, but to the process of approving the DCOs.

  Delay to our schemes

  This means we cannot start work as soon as we had originally planned on the three A47 schemes and have had to delay the improvements our customers have asked us for.

  Our continued commitment

  We stand by our plans and remain committed to investing almost half a billion pounds on a series of improvements to the A47 the people and businesses of East Anglia have told us they want. These will make the road safer, connect local communities and deliver a huge economic boost to the region.

  Over the last three months we have held a series of public information events, attended by over 800 people, and the feedback from our stakeholders was positive towards our A47 schemes.

  We will now work with the Department for Transport, ahead of the case being heard in full.

  More information

  • Drive to reducing carbon emissions Net Zero Highways.
  • Commitment to no net loss of biodiversity across all projects by 2025 Biodiversity Plan.

  To make sure you know what’s coming up, sign up to our regular project updates by using the link on the right-hand side of this page.

• 22 June 2022

  Development Consent Order given the green light

  Today we welcomed the Secretary of State for Transport’s decision to grant us a planning application called a Development Consent Order (DCO), which allows us to proceed with our plans to improve the A47 between Blofield and North Burlingham.   

  This scheme is to the east of Norwich and will create a new 1.6 mile (2.6km) section of two-lane dual carriageway, remove unsafe side roads, and improve safety with two new junctions with bridges for the B1140 and to connect Blofield and Burlingham.  

   Traffic modelling data from 2019 shows this section of the A47 is used by over 30,000 vehicles a day, and currently has one of the highest recorded accident rates for an A-road in the UK. The changes will improve road safety by reducing the numbers of accidents and consequently the number of casualties:  the improvements should save a total of 190 accidents and 29 people killed or seriously injured over a 60-year timeframe. 

  We will be 'de-trunking' the existing A47 road for use by local traffic and creating new cycling and walking routes to improve safety for these and other vulnerable users. 

  View the Secretary of State’s decision letter here.

  For more information on our DCO and to view our DCO documents,  please visit the scheme page on the Planning Inspectorate website. 

  Keeping you informed  

  We plan to start work in autumn 2022. To keep you updated on scheme progress, we will:  

  • Issue regular scheme newsletters.  
  • Organise face-to-face public information events from August, using our engagement van at local venues. These will provide information about the scheme and allow us to answer any questions you may have.
  • Hold online briefings in September, where you will have the opportunity to ask the team any questions and find out more about our scheme. 

  We will provide you with more details on our face-to-face events and online briefings on this page in the next few weeks. To make sure you know what’s coming up, sign up to our regular project updates by using the link on the right-hand side of this page. 

• 03 November 2021

  Planning Inspector hearing dates

  The Planning Inspector's hearings were held from 16 August and the Hearing agendas published.

  Those who requested to attend Hearings were sent the joining details the day before by the Planning Inspectorate. The hearings were also broadcast live via https://www.liveeventstream.online/planning-inspectorate-a47blofield. 

  If you have any questions about the hearings process, please contact the Planning Inspectorate at A47BlofieldtoNorthBurlingham@planninginspectorate.gov.uk

  More information is available on the Planning Inspectorate website

• 26 February 2021

  Planning Inspectorate acceptance of scheme submission

  We are pleased to announce that our Development Consent Order Application was submitted to the Planning Inspectorate in December 2020. It has subsequently been accepted in January 2021, allowing us to progress through to examination. The next steps in the process can be found on the Planning Inspectorate's website.

  Members of the public were able to register to participate in the examination and provide a response to our application during the Relevant Representation period until 6 April 2021. 

  Details of how to respond are available on the A47 Blofield to North Burlingham Planning Inspectorate's web page.

  The Section 56 Notice notifies the public that the Blofield to North Burlingham Development Consent Order application has been accepted for examination. View the Section 56 Notice.

  We are continuing to carry out ground investigations and other survey works to progress a more detailed design for this scheme.

• 14 September 2020

  Proposed design refined following consultation

  Since our public consultation in 2018, we have made further refinements to our proposed design. We are now sharing our current plans for this scheme that will relieve congestion and improve safety.

  We held a statutory consultation in autumn 2018, based on the route shown in our Preferred Route Announcement. We received 767 responses. Your feedback showed that 63% wanted us to improve the road and agreed that our proposals would help reduce congestion and shorten journey times.

  Based on the feedback, we have refined our proposals to address the common themes and concerns raised, whilst ensuring that the project solves the traffic problem, improves journey times and improves safety as key considerations. You can view our latest design in our summer 2020 project update.

  We have also done more ground investigations and surveys, including using radar to detect underground plastic water and gas pipes; traffic surveys; and air quality monitoring. Environment and ecology surveys are continuing.

  We have been talking to affected landowners, local authorities, parish councils and environmental bodies. We have met with local landowners and will be meeting with more residents in the local area over the coming months.

  We successfully completed the archaeological trial trenching in June this year.