The A47 - Just Fund It!

We believe getting the A47 fully dualled is vital to the future success of Norfolk. The route needs to be dualled now more than ever in order to support Norfolk's economic recovery and the levelling up agenda.

The A47 trunk road is managed by National Highways on behalf of the Government and runs from just past Peterborough in the west and across the breadth of Norfolk to Lowestoft in the east. The route carries traffic from the Midlands and the north of England, catering for residents, visitors and businesses alike.

Currently just 47 per cent of this major route is dual carriageway and while National Highways have committed to making £300million of improvements to the road, including dualling some stretches, this will still leave substantial sections of the A47 as single carriageway with no current plans to dual them. The route is therefore currently unfit for purpose.

A fully-dualled A47 would bring significant benefits to Norfolk. Shorter and more reliable journey times along the road and onwards to the Midlands would not only improve quality of life for many residents but also provide a huge boost to the regional economy by attracting new businesses, supporting existing businesses to grow and become more profitable, encouraging more visitors to the region and creating more jobs.

So, we have launched the Just Fund It! Campaign working with the A47 Alliance, MPs, businesses, the Eastern Daily Press and the Norfolk Chamber of Commerce. This campaign reignites the Just Dual It! Campaign launched in 2019. Our campaign is calling for:

• Government to provide funding for whole route dualling in the comprehensive spending review, phased over a number of years
• National Highways to deliver, promptly, each section as it is approved

Priority dualling sections of the A47 have been identified by the A47 Alliance. These are the Acle Straight, Tilney to East Winch and Peterborough to Wisbech. We missed out on funding to dual these sections of the A47 as part of the Road Investment Strategy 2 in March 2020. However, the dualling of these sections remains a key priority as it would unlock 125,000 houses and 75,000 jobs, creating more than £330million uplift from new employment and £200million of benefits from enhanced productivity. 

We would like to see the A47 included in Government's plans to unlock the potential of Norfolk. We firmly believe that we have a strong case and if we can make enough noise about it, this can make all the difference.

#JustDualIt! #JustFundIt!