Work has started on one of the largest ever highway schemes in the East of England thanks to an extra £22m highway funding with dozens of roads across the county of Norfolk to see maintenance improvements.
Norfolk received more than any other local authority in the East of England for maintenance and repairs to roads, bridges, pavements and cycle paths from the Department for Transport funding announced in May.
One of the first schemes to get underway is a £750,000 resurfacing on one of the county’s major main roads. This will be followed by a range of improvements across the county, all of which are set for completion by the end of March 2021.
A further £2.4m will be spent on machine patching, edge strengthening and haunching at sites across the county, with £1.2m earmarked for drainage work and £650,000 for surface dressing projects. There will be £750,00 spent on signs replacement, £350,000 on lining, and £350,000 on new road studs.
There will also be improvements made to pavements and cycleways. Passenger transport has also been allocated £180,000 from the funding.
Investment will also include £1.2m for mechanical and electrical repairs to Great Yarmouth’s 90-year-old Haven Bridge, £320,000 for resurfacing the B1145 at Billingford, and £140,000 for resurfacing the A1122 in Downham Market.
The £22m funding award is in addition to Norfolk County Council’s existing highways capital maintenance budget of £38.6 million for the year 2020-2021.
Martin Wilby, Norfolk County Council Cabinet Member for Highways, Infrastructure and Transport, said: “I’m very pleased to see work now underway as communities across the county will benefit from the £22m funding that has made a range of schemes possible, including more than £880,000 repairs and improvements to a number of Fen roads that have been badly affected by recent hot summers.
“A strong Norfolk economy needs good infrastructure so the extra money for Norfolk means we can do more to maintain and improve our highway network to help support sustainable growth.”
