A47 road

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

A47 shield
A47
A12 in Lowestoft
Location
Country
Primary
destinations
Nuneaton
Hinckley/Earl Shilton
Leicester
Peterborough
Wisbech
King's Lynn
Swaffham
Dereham
Norwich
Great Yarmouth
Gorleston-on-Sea
Lowestoft
Road network
←
A48

The A47 is a major trunk road in

B4114. From Peterborough eastwards, it is a trunk road (sections west of the A1 road
have been downgraded as alternative roads have been built).

History

Spitfire factory at Castle Bromwich

The original (1923) route of the A47 was Birmingham to Great Yarmouth, but there were some changes made to its route in the early years. At its eastern end, the A47 originally ran through Filby and Caister-on-Sea, with the Acle Straight bearing the number B1140.

A change took place in 1925. The original route of the A47 between Guyhirn and Wisbech in the Isle of Ely was via Wisbech St Mary, with the direct route being part of the A141. This is because there was no road bridge over the River Nene at Guyhirn, and hence no junction between the A47 and the A141. In April 1925 a steel road bridge was opened, and the A47 and the A141 swapped routes between Guyhirn and Wisbech.[1]

The A47 was rerouted along the Acle Straight in 1935, with the old route being renumbered as the A1064 (Acle to Caister-on-Sea) and part of the A149 (Caister to Great Yarmouth). Another change also dates from 1935. The A47 originally ran via Downham Market, not King's Lynn. In 1935,[citation needed] it was rerouted via King's Lynn, replacing part of the A141 (Wisbech to King's Lynn) and part of the A17 (King's Lynn to Swaffham). The old route via Downham Market was renumbered as the A1122 (Outwell to Swaffham) and part of the A1101 (Wisbech to Outwell).

Major improvements were made from the late 1970s until early in the 1990s. The 7 mile (11.3 km) £5 million part-dual-carriageway East Dereham Bypass built on part of the disused railway line was opened in spring 1978 followed by a five-mile (8 km) part-dual-carriageway Swaffham Bypass, costing £5 million which was opened in June 1981. Bypasses for Uppingham (£1.4 million) and Blofield (£4 million) were opened in 1982 and 1983 respectively. The southern section of the Great Yarmouth Western Bypass was opened in May 1985 and the northern section in March 1986 at a cost of £19 million followed by improvements to the one mile (1.6 km) Postwick-Blofield section (£1.2 million) which was opened in November 1987. In 1989 Acle Bypass was completed as a cost of £7.1 million and the £1.2 million East Norton Bypass was opened in December 1990. The three mile (4.8 km) £9 million East Dereham-North Tuddenham Improvement opened in August 1992 and the £62 million Norwich southern Bypass in September 1992.

Escalating

road protests starting with Twyford Down in 1992 and culminating with the Newbury bypass in 1996 (at which over 1,000 people were arrested)[2] led to over 300 road schemes being cancelled in November 1995[3] and to the cancellation of further schemes including the Thorney bypass[4] by the new Labour government in 1997.[5][6]

In 2002 the government announced a new road building programme[7] which included the three mile (4.8 km) dual-carriageway Thorney bypass which opened on 14 December 2005.

In February 2017 the Highways Agency re-designated the stretch of the A12 road between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft as the A47.[8]

Proposed improvements

Acle Straight (New Road)

A47 Acle Straight (New Road)
Route of the proposed A47 Acle Straight scheme
LocationNorfolk
ProposerNorfolk County Council
GeometryKML

A study on the A47 which concluded in 2001 looked at improving New Road, i.e. the section of the A47 between Acle and Great Yarmouth known as the Acle Straight.

Broads Authority due to its impact on biodiversity and internationally important wildlife sites. These parties did cautiously support further investigation into the option for widening following further investigation of its environmental impact.[10]

Acle Straight safety improvement scheme

In 2006 a programme of safety improvement for the Acle Straight were announced. This would include road resurfacing, better road markings, improved visibility and the installation of safety cameras at an estimated total cost of £1.6 million. The result would then be monitored while long-term improvements, such as widening, are considered.[11] In October 2009 after it was announced that a £40,000 feasibility study, to see whether roadside ditches along the nine-mile stretch could be moved further back without disturbing delicate marshland habitat had been delayed until autumn 2010 at the earliest.[12]

Norwich Northern Distributor Road

Main article: Norwich Northern Distributor Road

A£117 million road scheme to the north of

Norwich International Airport to the A47, sponsored and managed by Norfolk County Council. It was priority scheme for Norfolk County Council and it attracted strong opposition both locally and from environmental groups.[13]
On 2 June 2015 the scheme was given the go ahead, in 2017 parts of the road were opened with the complete road opened in early 2018.

Norwich Western Link

In 2007 Norfolk County Council started developing a proposal for a link road between the A47 and

Local Transport Plan
and so did not qualify for regional funding. Funding for the scheme would therefore have to be found by the County Council. [16] The scheme was not progressed.

In April 2017 however Norfolk County Council voted to make the

Norwich Western Link one of its three top highway priorities. The scheme would connect the A47 at Easton with the A1067 at Attlebridge
at the end of the Norwich Northern Distributor Road and consultants have been brought in to progress the scheme.

Other proposed improvements

In 2012 Norfolk County Council launched the strategic route prospectus which detailed improvement schemes along the A47 between Peterborough and King's Lynn.[17] The list of improvements, costing a total £526 million, included dualling sections of the road and other junction improvements. The sections of the road to be dualled were the Acle straight, Blofield to Burlingham, North Tuddenham to Easton and the East Winch/Middleton bypass. Other improvements detailed were four schemes at Great Yarmouth, including a £112 million third river crossing, four junction improvements along the Norwich Southern Bypass and improvements to the three junctions at King's Lynn.

On 8 October 2012 it was the announced that improvements to the A1/A47 junction at Wansford and the roundabout at Honingham would be approved for pinch point funding.[18] On 1 December 2014 it was announced that a package of improvements to the A47 worth a total of £300 million would be funded during the 2015-20 parliament.[19] Shadow chancellor Ed Balls said that the proposed improvements would be honoured by any incoming Labour government.[20] The proposed improvements consisted of

  • dualling the section between Blofield and North Burlingham
  • dualling the section between Easton and Tuddenham
  • dualling the section between Wansford and Sutton
  • improvements to the A47/A141 junction at Guyhirn
  • improvements to the A47/A11 Thickthorn junction
  • safety improvements to the Acle Straight
  • improvements to the A47/
    A149
    junction at Great Yarmouth

Route

Route of A47, OpenStreetMap

Birmingham

The Birmingham end of the A47 starts one mile from the centre of Birmingham at the Ashsted Circus roundabout on the

A4540 Middleway running north-east through Vauxhall as Nechells Parkway and then Saltley Road. (Historically it started in the City Centre on High Street.) The road continues north east following the Cross Country Route and River Rea as first Heartlands Parkway and then Fort Parkway. The Birmingham section of the road terminates at Spitfire Island, a roundabout on the A452
halfway between the M6 Junction 5 and A38 Tyburn Island.

The route between Birmingham and Nuneaton was known as the A47 until 1986, when it was renumbered, mainly as the B4114, following the completion of the M42.[21]

Nuneaton – Leicester

The A47 in Normandy Way, Hinckley

At

service station and continues on into the City of Leicester at the B5380 junction. The road continues into the city centre crossing the A563 outer ring-road before becoming part of the inner ring road.

Humberstone Gate in Leicester (ex-A47)

Leicester – A1

Uppingham Road shops

Leaving Leicester the road becomes Humberstone Road, then Uppingham Road. It passes under the

Humberstone, beyond the A563 (outer ring road) and Goodwood Road (projected extension of the outer ring road) crossroads, the road meets the B667 Spencefield Lane to the south, for Evington. Between the Downing Drive junction and Thurnby Hill it enters Leicestershire and the district of Harborough. At Thurnby it meets Station Road to the north, for Scraptoft. Leaving Bushby
it climbs Winkadale Hill into the countryside.

Rose & Crown in Houghton on the Hill

The road travels through

Tugby, which is traversed by the Midshires Way and National Cycle Route 63. It winds its way towards the one-kilometre £1.2 million East Norton Bypass, which opened in December 1990, passing south of the village, with a left turn for Loddington and right turn for Hallaton. Leaving the village, after rejoining the former route, it passes the former railway station. It heads down a hill as three lanes and crosses the Eye Brook and from here the next ten miles are in Rutland
, and three lanes become two.

The A6003 roundabout at Ayston

There is a left turn for

Travelodge, and a new cafe restaurant, the Country Lounge originally a Little Chef, on the left and there is a left turn for Morcott, where the road is crossed by the Rutland Round. It meets the A6121 (for Stamford) and B672 (for Caldecott) where it crosses a tunnel of a former railway. At a right turn for Barrowden there is Morcott Windmill, and the road is again crossed by the Rutland Round. There is a crossroads for South Luffenham and Barrowden
.

Collyweston quarry

From Shire Oaks (Coppice Leys) through

Kings Cliffe. The woodland here is the northern edge of the historic Rockingham Forest. The road towards Wittering Lodge has been straightened, and crosses the City of Peterborough boundary (former Northamptonshire, then Cambridgeshire). At Toll Bar Cottage, there is a left turn for Wittering, opposite Bedford Purlieus National Nature Reserve. The road meets the A1
.

A1 – Kings Lynn

The road formerly went through Wansford, further to the south. The £250,000 dual-carriageway

Castor Bypass opened in September 1991. Around Peterborough, the Peterborough Longthorpe Grade separated junction (GSJ) opened in December 1987 where it meets the A1260. There is a GSJ for Bretton and a Sainsbury's, and it passes the Peterborough City Hospital. The £1.2 million Peterborough Westwood GSJ opened in January 1987 near Ravensthorpe. This section of road is called the Soke Parkway (named after the Soke of Peterborough
). When this was first built, in the mid-1970s, the A47 followed what is now the A15 Paston Parkway.

It crosses the

Total Wisbech Services and then meets the old route (B198) at a roundabout and becomes the 6-mile (9.7 km) £23 million dual-carriageway Walpole Highway/Tilney High End Bypass which opened in summer 1996. There is an exit for Walpole Highway, and another for Terrington St John. It passes near Tilney High End. Near Tilney All Saints, it meets the old route at a roundabout, becoming the single carriageway Main Road, then Pullover Road. It meets the end of the A17 at the "Pullover Roundabout" where the West Lynn
Little Chef is located.

King's Lynn – Great Yarmouth

Thickthorn Interchange between the A47 and A11.
The A47 near Norwich

From King's Lynn, the road goes over the River Great Ouse and Fen Rivers Way, near to former sugar beet factory site on a very busy concrete dual-carriageway built in 1975. It meets the A148 at a GSJ. The A10 and the A149 have their terminus here, at the Hardwick Flyover (opened on 30 October 2003[22]) near the large Hardwick Industrial Estate (formerly home of Campbell's Soup) and a Ramada Hotel. It becomes Constitution Hill, passing North Runcton then Middleton, where it passes the Crown public house and St Mary's church as "Lynn Road".

Next is

Breckland. There is a straight section to where it meets the A1122 (for RAF Marham) at a roundabout at the start of the five-mile £5 million part-dual-carriageway Swaffham Bypass, which opened in June 1981. There is an exit for Swaffham, and a GSJ with the A1065 (for Fakenham
).

It passes some wind turbines and there is a roundabout where it joins the former route just before it is crossed by the

Travelodge , becoming the single carriageway New Road. From Acle, the road enters the Acle Straight which is nearly seven miles of straight and level single carriageway to Great Yarmouth, with just one curve at Road House Diner. The road is notorious for congestion, especially during the holiday season, and also for the number of accidents, which due to the drainage ditches on either side of the road are often fatal, and demands for dualling have been heard for many years, although there are no current plans to go ahead with this. It enters the district of Great Yarmouth, then passes close to Breydon Water
. The northern section of the two-mile £19 million Great Yarmouth Western Bypass (A47) opened in March 1986, and the southern section opened in May 1995.

Great Yarmouth - Lowestoft

The Breydon Bridge to the west of Great Yarmouth now carries the A47.
The Gorleston Relief Bypass, which used to be the A12

From the Acle Straight, the A47 meets the Vauxhall Roundabout in Great Yarmouth where it intersects with the A149. The A47 follows a route south across Breydon Bridge which spans the estuary where the Rivers Yare and Bure meet Breydon Water. It meets at the Gapton Hall Roundabout, which intersects with the A1243. The route continues South, meeting with the Harfrey's Roundabout, which connects the A47 to Great Yarmouth's Herring Bridge. From there the A47 is formed of the Gorleston Bypass, a 2.6KM stretch of dual carriageway with a single slip-road connecting it to Gorleston via the A143. After this, a small section of the A47 runs south past the regions main A&E, the James Paget University Hospital. Approx 5.5 KM of dual carriageway then takes the A47 to North Lowestoft, which connects the A47 to the coastal villages of Hopton and Corton via 3 roundabouts. The A47 enters Suffolk as its route heads south into Lowestoft, along restricted 30MPH roads. As the A47 intersects with the A1144 in the centre of Lowestoft, it branches off into two routes. The main A47 branches past the towns docks, where it enters a section of 3 lanes controlled by lane tidal flow lights, which predetermine which of the three lanes is open for north or southbound travel over the Bascule Bridge. The secondary A47 branches through the centre of the town, passing Lowestoft Railway Station and meeting the main A47 by the docks just before the bridge. The A47 then terminates at the Bascule Bridge, where the A12 begins. [23] [24]

Transit service

  • Between Leicester and Uppingham, the A47 is serviced by bus route 747 Uppingham–Leicester.

First Eastern Counties run an 'Excel' service, with 4 branded routes - A, B, C and D, which primarily serve population centres along the A47, with some routes going as far as Peterborough. [25]

References

  1. ^ "Guyhirn Bridge – Roader's Digest: The SABRE Wiki". sabre-roads.org.uk. Retrieved 3 April 2021.
  2. ^ "Environmental protest groups". The Making for the Modern World. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  3. ^ "Protest Culture – history". Protest Culture. Archived from the original on 13 October 2007. Retrieved 17 January 2008.
  4. ^ "Thorney bypass". Archived from the original on 1 December 2008. Retrieved 6 November 2008.
  5. ^ "A new deal for transport: better for everyone". Department for Transport. Archived from the original on 30 January 2008. Retrieved 1 February 2008.
  6. ISBN 1-4051-0631-X
    – via archive.org.
  7. ^ "Select Committee on Transport, Local Government and the Regions Eighth Report". House of Commons. Archived from the original on 18 January 2008. Retrieved 16 January 2008.
  8. ^ Hewett, Emily (7 February 2017). "Why has the A12 between Great Yarmouth and Lowestoft become the A47?". Eastern Daily Press. Retrieved 7 February 2017.
  9. ^ "A47 Acle Straight".
    Highways Agency. Archived from the original
    on 4 July 2008. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  10. ^ "A47 Norwich to Great Yarmouth Study". Norfolk County Council. Archived from the original on 2 October 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  11. ^ "£1.6 Million package of safety measures to improve the A47 Acle Straight in Norfolk". Government News. Archived from the original on 26 July 2011. Retrieved 14 November 2008.
  12. ^ "Angers over Acle Straight safety study".
  13. ^ "Northern Distributor Road". Norfolk County Council. Archived from the original on 17 September 2008. Retrieved 8 November 2008.
  14. ^ "A47 to A1067 Link Road". Norfolk County Council. Retrieved 2 July 2009.[permanent dead link]
  15. ^ "The Link Options". Norfolk County Council. Retrieved 2 July 2009.[permanent dead link]
  16. ^ "A47-A1067 Link Improvement" (PDF). Norfolk County Council. 28 January 2008. Retrieved 2 July 2009.[permanent dead link]
  17. ^ "A47 Strategic Route Prospectus". Norfolk County Council. Archived from the original on 13 January 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  18. ^ "A47 Honingham junction to be improved". wayland news. Archived from the original on 20 June 2013. Retrieved 9 June 2013.
  19. ^ "The full list of road projects in the East". ITV. December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  20. ^ "Ed Balls in vow over A47 upgrade work". Eastern Daily Press. 15 December 2014. Retrieved 22 December 2014.
  21. ^ "Oddities and anomalies". Chris Marshall. Archived from the original on 10 March 2013. Retrieved 10 June 2013.
  22. ^ "Highways Agency – A47 Hardwick roundabout flyover, Kings Lynn [1]". 6 September 2008. Archived from the original on 6 September 2008.
  23. ^ "Detailed maps & routes to explore across the UK | OS Maps". explore.osmaps.com. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  24. ^ "Work completed early as part of the A12 becomes the A47". GOV.UK. Retrieved 5 October 2023.
  25. ^ "747 timetable" (PDF). 29 August 2021. Archived (PDF) from the original on 11 October 2021. Retrieved 11 February 2022.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to A47 road (England).
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