Have your say on Norwich bus project plans

Projects designed to improve bus journey times and reliability in two areas of Norwich are open for consultation as part of Norfolk County Council's latest plans for better sustainable transport infrastructure. 

A project at the junction of Angel Road and Waterloo Road aims to improve bus journey times and punctuality along Angel Road by changing the priority traffic flow at the junction. In doing so, delays to buses caused by giving way to vehicles travelling along Waterloo Road would be reduced. A new give way on Waterloo Road would then mean traffic on that road gives way to vehicles, including buses, on Angel Road.

The other project is to the south of the city at the A47/Ipswich Road interchange and runs from the Harford Park & Ride site towards the city. Currently, the A140 Ipswich Road can become very congested in this area, particularly during peak hours, which is impacting the bus services using this route. 

The proposal for this project is to introduce a dedicated filter lane for buses exiting the Park & Ride site, which will join a new bus lane running along the A140 Ipswich Road as far as the Tesco Superstore, where it will merge with the existing highway layout before the signalised junction. 

This will be achieved by widening the verge to make room for the bus lane so there will be no loss of road capacity for general traffic. The project is designed to help improve bus journey times and reliability not only for Park & Ride but also the other services that use the route, including buses from Diss, Harleston and Long Stratton. 

Funding for the projects is through the county council's Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP), which was awarded nearly £50m from the Department for Transport (DfT) to improve bus services and infrastructure facilities across the county.

Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport, said: "We're investing our funding from the DfT at strategic points on our public transport networks in Norwich, Kings Lynn and Great Yarmouth to bring our residents not only better bus journey times but more reliable services too.

"These projects in Norwich offer a really positive start to this work and will build on the excellent progress we've made with public transport infrastructure improvements through the Transforming Cities Fund. We hope that this, combined with the wave of new and extended services being delivered through our Bus Service Improvement Plan, will encourage more people to use these services."

The deadline for comments on both projects is Friday 22 December 2023. All responses will be carefully considered and the local county council member and cabinet member, where relevant, will then make a decision based on the feedback we have received. The Harford bus lane would then go on to advertisement of the Traffic Regulation Orders needed for the scheme to be delivered. 

If approved, construction is planned at Angel Road for summer 2024 and autumn 2024 for the Harford bus lane. Estimated costs for the projects are up to £300,000 for Angel Road and up to £1.7m of DfT BSIP funding for the Harford bus lane.

To find out more about to the proposals, including plans of the projects, and to take part in the consultations, please visit www.norfolk.gov.uk/angelroad and www.norfolk.gov.uk/harfordbuslane. 

You can read more about our work on the Bus Service Improvement Plan by visiting www.norfolk.gov.uk/busstrategy.