Speed limit on one of Norfolk's busiest roads to be reduced to 50mph
The reduced speed limit could add an average of just under one-and-a-half minutes to journeys along the road.
The speed limit on one of Norfolk’s busiest roads is expected to be slashed within the next few months.
National Highways wants to reduce the speed limit in the A47 between Great Yarmouth and Acle from 60mph to 50mph, saying it is needed to prevent crashes and deaths.
The reduced speed limit could add an average of just under one-and-a-half minutes to journeys along the road.
While the timeline for this scheme was initially unspecified, it is now understood that the new safety measures could be brought in as soon as January.
National Highways, the government company responsible for the road, has sent letters inviting organisations, businesses and individuals to have their say on the proposals.
The organisation said that between 2017 and 2021 there were 54 crashes on the road, with 138 people hurt.
It said cutting the speed limit, enforced by average speed cameras – which use automatic number plate reading to record speed between two points – would improve safety for all road users.
Speaking at a meeting of Norfolk County Council this week, a spokesman for National Highways said the A47 changes are one of five schemes in the East expected to kick-start early in the new year.
Before this can happen, the company is required to submit an application for a traffic regulation order to cut the limit.
The proposals have been met with criticism from some councillors, who do not believe a speed limit reduction is the right answer to problems with the 6.8-mile road.
Brian Long, a Conservative councillor, said: “I appreciate why National Highways is putting in new speed limits and know it’s about safety, but Norfolk needs to do business with the rest of the country.
“Having a road that is restricted in speed, place after place, is not the best solution. We need the entire road dualled. That is the one thing that would alleviate the need for speed restrictions and get traffic moving.”