The A47/A11 Thickthorn Junction scheme has been approved by UK ministers, with the more than £200m set aside as part of the Plan for Change scheme for the project now able to be committed to construction.
The scheme is supporting the Greater Norwich City Deal, with the government reporting that drivers will save 3 to 4 minutes off journeys in the morning and afternoon travel peaks.
Along the A11, the route will also shave off 2 to 3 minutes in the morning and afternoon peaks.
Ministers have now given the go ahead to the project, the government reporting that this project will be apart of a wider drive to unblock transport infrastructure development.
The upgraded junction will also improve links between Norwich and Peterborough, expanding job opportunities and better connecting communities, and is also a key route to Norwich University Hospital.
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The new design will seek to improve safety, with rerouted traffic and safer pedestrian and cycle routes, projected to save as many as 26 fatal or serious injury collisions over the next 60 years.
The plans include the construction of 2 new free-flowing slip roads that will connect the A47 with the A11, rerouting traffic away from the junction and flowing it under new underpasses.
The future of roads minister Lilian Greenwood said: “This scheme is finally getting to go-ahead it deserves, after years of expensive legal blocks, as we are now able to unlock this vital scheme that Norwich has waited long for.
“We are determined to get Britain building again as this scheme is set to not only improve journeys but create thousands of new homes and jobs.”
Achievements and innovations in road maintenance will be recognised and celebrated at the fourth annual CiTTi Awards on 25 November 2025 at De Vere Grand Connaught Rooms in London. Visit www.cittiawards.co.uk to learn more about this unmissable event for the UK’s transportation sector!
