‘Inefficient’ claims over A47 roadworks
A pub owner has said he believes the works currently taking place to improve safety on the A47 at East Winch are “inefficient”.
Lawrence Bates, who owns the Carpenters Arms on Lynn Road in the village, said he believes the stretch of road between Lynn and Swaffham has been closed for roadworks around three times in just over a year.
Mr Bates said: “It’s all too frequent. I wonder why they can’t coordinate it to do all these things at the same time.”
But Highways England, who started the work on the A47 at the beginning of last week, said “it is the nature of road maintenance that different tasks become required at different times”.
The work is a £150,000 package of safety measures for the area, including a lower speed limit and a new pedestrian crossing.
Overnight road closures have been in force on weeknights, but Mr Bates received a letter from the company on Thursday saying work would also take place on two Saturday nights, February 29 and March 7, to “advance the original programme and minimise disruption”.
The letter says on these dates, work will still take place during 8pm and 6am, and all noisy works will be completed by 11pm each night.
Mr Bates said he does believe the current works are “positive” but “not efficient”.
“My point is they have closed the road three times, I’m not against things being done, but I’m against closing the road three times,” he added. “I’m absolutely fed up with it.”
The pub owner and landlord said the works can have a “detrimental effect” on business.
A Highways England spokesperson said: “We have a comprehensive programme of road maintenance and improvements to keep journeys on the A47 safe and reliable.
“It’s the nature of road maintenance that different tasks become required at different times, and we always plan our work to keep disruption from roadworks to a minimum.
“The work we are doing over the next two weeks are a package of safety improvements which will deliver real benefits to people living in East Winch.
“By carrying out this work overnight or at weekends we aim to reduce the impact on people using the A47 at East Winch.”
The closures are set to be in place until March 13.
