A47 Traffic Mitigation Consultation - Weston Longville, Morton on the Hill and Taverham Road, Honingham

Overview

A47 Traffic Mitigation Consultation - Weston Longville, Morton on the Hill and Taverham Road, Honingham

We are consulting on proposals for physical measures in the highway in the parishes of Weston Longville, Morton on the Hill and on Taverham Road in Honingham, which have been developed with input from local parish representatives.

These proposals have been developed with the specific aim of reducing potential traffic impacts on these areas from the upcoming closure of the Easton roundabout. The Easton roundabout will be removed as part of National Highways A47 North Tuddenham to Easton improvements, which are currently under construction.

As a result of this scheme, there will be fewer junctions between the A47 and the local road network and it is likely that some local roads will see an increase in traffic once Easton roundabout is no longer in use.

Norfolk County Council, National Highways and Weston Longville Parish Council entered into an agreement during the A47 North Tuddenham to Easton Development Consent Order process to work together to develop measures with the intention of mitigating any increases in traffic on unsuitable roads in the parish that are due to the dualling scheme. These proposals are being presented on the basis that the National Highways work will be completed before the delivery of a Norwich Western Link project.

Honingham Lane closure

As part of the North Tuddenham to Easton dualling scheme, National Highways will implement a temporary closure of Honingham Lane, south of the village of Ringland.  This will include a physical restriction on the road, in order to prevent traffic coming off the A47 at Taverham Road from cutting through Ringland in order to reach the north of Norwich and beyond. Once National Highways have completed their construction work, the County Council will then seek to make the temporary closure of Honingham Lane permanent.

An indicative location of the Honingham Lane closure can be viewed on the plan here. (When viewing this plan, click ‘back’ on your browser to return to this page.)

Local speed limit reductions

As part of this project, we have already worked with the relevant parishes to agree reduced speed limits on several local roads. These are due to be implemented in late 2025 and are being put in place earlier than the physical measures as reduced speed limits and signage are quicker and easier to introduce. The lower speed limits also respond to existing road safety concerns from these communities.

The speed limits being implemented can be viewed on the two plans here. (When viewing these plans, click 'back' on your browser to return back to this page.)

Equinor

We have also been in discussion with the energy company Equinor about these proposals. Equinor are constructing a wind farm off the Norfolk coast and have permission to use specific roads in Norfolk as access routes to deliver materials to construct a cable route that will connect to the wind farm. Locally, these routes include:

• Marl Hill and Ringland Lane from the A1067,
• Wood Lane, Paddy’s Lane and Weston Green Road from the A47,
• Taverham Road from the A47.

Some of the proposals in this consultation are on roads that are due to be used by Equinor to transport abnormal loads in the future, so we will continue to liaise with them over this as more detail about their plans is confirmed, to try to balance their requirements with the needs of local communities. 

At this stage it is understood that the abnormal loads will be travelling for a period of about 1 to 4 months, sometime during 2027 to 2032.  However, until a contractor has been identified for the Equinor work we will not know the exact access requirements.  We may have to provide changes to the measures to allow the movements of the abnormal loads.

The Norwich Western Link

Norfolk County Council is still working to deliver a significant transport intervention through its Norwich Western Link project to improve travel and tackle the existing traffic issues in the area to the west of Norwich.

We are currently carrying out work to assess a wide range of options which could be effective at achieving the project objectives. We are aiming to consult on a shortlist of options in 2026.

For more information about our Norwich Western Link project, visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/nwl

Next steps

We now wish to understand peoples’ views on these proposals. We will take the views expressed through this consultation into account before finalising our A47 traffic mitigation proposals for Weston Longville, Morton on the Hill and Taverham Road, Honingham.

Subject to the outcome of the consultation, we are aiming to proceed with installing the finalised traffic mitigation measures before the closure of the Easton roundabout.