West Winch Housing Access Road

The West Winch Housing Access Road will serve the South East King's Lynn Growth Area (known locally as the West Winch Growth area) which will see up to 4,000 new homes built over the next 20 years.

The route connects the A10 to the A47 along a new 1.5-mile road. This will start to the south of Gravelhill Lane in West Winch and join the A47 before it reaches the Hardwick Junction.

The road will connect to the A47 via a new signalised roundabout and dedicated free-flow slip road. The scheme would see the dualling of the A47 between Hardwick and the new road. Changes will need to be made to the Hardwick Interchange to take into account the housing traffic and the rerouted A10.

The West Winch Housing Access Road will provide an alternative route around village of West Winch. This would result in a reduction in traffic through the village. This will allow the introduction of measures through the village to improve safety and living conditions for local residents. This could include:

reduction to existing speed limits
weight restriction on heavy good vehicles
new crossings for pedestrians and cyclists

Government funding - Outline Business Case

We submitted the Outline Business Case (OBC) to the Department for Transport. The business case is an important step in unlocking government funding for the project.

Outline Business Case (PDF) [4MB]

Sustainable Transport Strategy (PDF) [3MB]

Have your say - public consultation

We carried out a public consultation on our proposals for the West Winch Housing Access Road for eight weeks between Monday 14 November 2022 and Sunday 8 January 2023.

We held three local consultation events, two in West Winch and one in North Runcton. All of the events were well attended with over 150 signed-in attendees in total.

We received over 160 responses to the consultation through the online survey and written responses via email or post.

The majority people who responded were local residents. There were also responses for those who either work, or travel through the area.

The feedback we received covered these key themes:

A47 connection and northern section of the road.
The central section of the road, including proposals for Rectory Lane and Chequers Lane.
Southern section of the road, including the connection with the existing A10.
The local landscape and environment
Potential measures along the existing A10
Existing and projected traffic flows
Active travel, including existing activity/behaviour and routes.
Public transport, including current habits and potential improvements.

There was support for a many of the key elements of the project, including our proposals for Rectory Lane and Chequers Lane.

We also captured important feedback on people's preferences. This included views on potential measures along the existing A10, active travel measures they would like to see, and which public transport improvements are important to them.

The full consultation report can be found in the papers for the September cabinet meeting.

Planning Application

The planning application for the West Winch Housing Access Road was submitted at the end of 2023. The planning application is available to view on the Norfolk planning portal.

Your questions answered

Why are you proposing to build this road?

The housing access road will connect the South East King's Lynn Growth Area to the existing road network. It will make sure that the traffic has a minimal impact on the existing A10 as it passes through West Winch.

For the latest information about the plans for the growth area, visit the Borough Council of King's Lynn & West Norfolk's website.

How many lanes will the road have and what type of junctions will there be?

The West Winch Housing Access Road will have one lane in each direction. There will be three roundabouts along the length of the road (bringing the total to five once you include the connection to the A10 and A47 at each end). These will provide access to the new housing developments once the properties have been built.

What will the speed limit be on the West Winch Housing Access Road?

We are considering a 40mph limit. This is the same as the A10 to the south of this scheme. It is in line with the maximum speed put forward in the North Runcton and West Winch Neighbourhood plan.

It also reflects our proposals for the A47 improvements and is appropriate for a road that forms part of the Major Road Network.

Will the West Winch Housing Access Road cross any existing roads and how will it affect them?

The housing access road will cross two local roads: Rectory Lane and Chequers Lane. Our proposals for these roads are:

Rectory Lane will remain open to traffic via a new bridge that will pass over the housing access road
Chequers Lane would be severed at or near the point it crosses the housing access road. This is to prevent traffic from travelling through North Runcton to access the A47. We are currently exploring the options for a pedestrian crossing at Chequers Lane. We will work with the properties most affected by any changes to ensure there are appropriate access arrangements.

Will the new road help to address traffic problems on the existing A10 as it passes through West Winch?

Yes, the West Winch Housing Access Road will help to address traffic problems on the existing A10 by providing an alternative route around the village of West Winch.

The forecasted traffic flows show that sections of the existing A10 that pass through West Winch will see a drop in daily traffic. The reduction in traffic is expected to be 55-62% in the first year of the new road opening, when compared to 2018 levels.

This reduction in traffic will allow improvements to be introduced along the existing A10 through West Winch. This will improve safety and living conditions for local residents.

The measures being considered include:

Reducing the existing speed limit
Weight Restriction to prohibit Heavy Goods Vehicle traffic
Northbound bus lane on approach to the Hardwick Interchange
New signal-controlled crossings for pedestrians and cyclists
Bus stop improvements (for example better waiting facilities and real time travel information)
Traffic calming measures
Gateway features at the northern and southern ends of the existing A10

When will the road be built?

Our plan is to begin building the road in 2025, with construction taking around 2 years to complete. This is subject planning permission and funding approval from the Department for Transport.

Will I be able to travel along the new road as a pedestrian or cyclist?

Yes, our proposals include a separate pedestrian and cycle path running along on western side of the road.

Our ambition is to encourage more walking and cycling by providing better facilities. We want to connect existing and new communities and that is why we are providing a parallel facility alongside the majority of the new road.

Cycling and walking infrastructure will play an important part in the delivery of our transport strategy for Norfolk and support the Government's ambition for "Cycling and walking to be the natural first choice for many journeys with half of all journeys in towns and cities being cycled or walked by 2030".

We will also work to compliment the Local Cycling and Walking Implementation plan for the King's Lynn area.

Find out more about local cycling and walking infrastructure plans.

Will the road be open before the new houses are built?

As the local highway authority, the County Council has the responsibility to consider the impacts of the proposed development on the local road network. In the response to the proposals for the 1100 dwellings in the north of the growth area, it was made clear that no more 300 homes could be occupied before a new road connection to the A47 is built.

This will form part of the planning conditions proposed for the housing development. This also requires the developer to have written confirmation that the Local Planning Authority is satisfied the condition has been completed.

However, separate to the above, the aim is to have the new road open to the public well before this limit of 300 homes is reached.

How much will the road cost and who is paying for it?

In a report to our cabinet in September 2023, we included an updated project cost of £84.47m. This is an increase from the original estimated cost of £64.73m which was presented to the county council's cabinet in March 2021.

The increased costs are largely due to inflation which has increased significantly since the original figures were produced in 2021. The increase in cost is similar to those seen on other projects and in the wider construction industry.

If approved, a significant proportion of the project costs will be provided by the Department for Transport. There will also be a local contribution that is funded by the future housing developments.

Will the road and the growth area help to improve local bus services?

The housing access road will offer an additional route for bus services, improving local connectivity. The increase in demand from the housing growth will also help to improve the viability of existing services and strengthen the case for additional routes or services.

The reduction in traffic along the existing A10 as it passes through West Winch will improve bus journey times and reliability.

We will continue to work with bus operators throughout the development of the road and the housing growth area to develop and improve bus services.

What will be done to account for water drainage from the road?

The surface water drainage proposals for the new road will be designed to minimise impacts on existing water courses. This will include capacity and pollution control measures.

We will adopt the use of 'drainage attenuation features' which are areas designed to retain water during heavy or prolonged periods of rainfall. The proposals show the locations of drainage basins that show these features. Most of the time, these would be areas of grassland.

These sustainable drainage systems for the new road will be used to avoid making any existing drainage issues worse.

What impact will there be on air quality and noise and how will you measure this?

We will complete air quality and noise assessments and use these details to inform our modelling work. All these details will be included as part of the planning application submission.

Where there might be increased noise and vibration during the construction, every effort will be made to reduce these impacts to a minimum.

Once the new road is opened, traffic levels on the existing A10 through West Winch will reduce. We expect that this will provide improvements to noise and air quality for nearby properties.

What will you do to improve the local environment and limit the impact of the road?

The scheme's design will ensure that, wherever possible, existing landscape features will be retained and protected during construction. This includes features such as trees and hedgerows.

The design will also include the introduction of new features that complement the species and character of the area. This is likely to include wetland habitats, woodland, mixed grassland, hedgerows and trees.

The project also includes the target to achieve at least 10% Biodiversity Net Gain. This means we will seek to improve the biodiversity compared with the existing situation.

The project will be designed to minimise the carbon impacts from construction. We will consider re-using appropriate materials, recycling as much as possible. We will use locally sourced materials where possible to minimises transportation. There will also be consideration for the use of machinery and equipment to reduce impacts from the fuels required to run them.

Where possible we will screen the road from the surrounding landscape to reduce its visual impact. We also expect to see similar measures from housing developers as their proposals come forward.