Progress report

In August 2017 we made our Preferred Route Announcement confirming that the options shown would be progressed to the detailed design phase because they reduce congestion and provide value for money.

What's next?

The dates for a consultation on this scheme will be announced later in 2018.

Timeline

The need for the scheme

The A47 currently experiences high levels of congestion at peak times. The proposed works are required to ease the current capacity issues. This constrains economic growth in Great Yarmouth and reduces road-user satisfaction.

Limited route choice is also an issue when travelling in and out of Great Yarmouth, particularly at the Vauxhall roundabout. The volume of traffic bottlenecking on the A47 near Great Yarmouth causes significant queuing and congestion.

Future developments planned for the south of Great Yarmouth are likely to impact significantly on junctions on the A47 and increased congestion in future years is likely to further constrain economic growth in Great Yarmouth.

Aims

The aims and objectives of the Great Yarmouth junctions improvement scheme are to:

• reduce congestion-related delay, improving journey time reliability and increasing the overall capacity of the A47
• improve road safety for all road users by designing to modern highway standards appropriate for a major A road
• increase the resilience of the junctions in coping with incidents such as collisions, breakdowns, maintenance and extreme weather
• enable more reliable, reduced journey times and provide capacity for future traffic growth
• provide a safer route between communities for cyclists, pedestrians, and other non-motorised groups

The scheme in detail

The A47 Vauxhall and Gapton junctions in northern Great Yarmouth currently experience heavy congestion during peak hours. This is due to there being few route options entering and exiting the town, and a lack of connectivity between movements within the town.

The proposed scheme will improve the Vauxhall roundabout by making it a larger and fully signalled roundabout, with a widened bridge over the railway line to accommodate the A47 southern exit and approach. The Station Approach will have minor improvements at the existing junction, including the addition of a dedicated right turn at the existing left turn only junction. At the Gapton roundabout traffic signals will be installed and provisions for non-motorised users will be improved.

Roadworks and Events for England

The latest incident information for England's motorway and trunk routes provided by Highways England