DCO signed for £200m A47 stretch

Transport secretary Grant Shapps has signed the development consent order for construction of a new £200m dual carriageway on the A47 between North Tuddenham and Easton.

The 5.5-mile dual carriageway will be built south of the existing A47 at Hockering and will run north of the current road at Honingham.

Two new junctions will also be constructed; Wood Lane – where Berrys Lane meets Wood Lane – and Norwich Road – where Blind Lane meets Taverham Road.

Easton Roundabout will also be removed helping to create a free-flowing road which will include four new bridges. These will pass over or under the new Mattishall Lane link road, Wood Lane junction, the River Tud and the Norwich Road junction.

The granting of the DCO means preparatory work on the project can begin later this year with construction due to begin in early 2023.

The North Tuddenham to Easton scheme is part of National Highways’ £500m plan to improve the 115-mile section of the A47 between Peterborough and Great Yarmouth, with six separate projects along the 184 km route. Galliford Try was handed all six schemes in November 2018 by what is now National Highways as a single package, along with the dualling of the A303 between Sparkford and Ilchester in Somerset .

The first of these – a £17m upgrade to Guyhirn junction in Cambridgeshire – officially opened in May. In June the DCO for the £90m Blofield-North Burlingham stretch was signed. Galliford Try is set to start work on this section later this year although the DCO is subject to a legal challenge. A local environmentalist is arguing that the government failed to properly follow environmental regulations for assessing carbon emissions. (See previous report here.)

If the project clears these challenges, the new North Tuddenham to Easton section of the A47 is scheduled to open to traffic in the winter of 2025.

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