The Norwich Western Link will see a new 6.2km dual carriageway road constructed to the west of Norwich, intended to cut traffic congestion and reduce journey times. It will complete a fully-dualled orbital route around Norwich, together with National Highways’ project to dual the A47 between North Tuddenham and Easton.

When complete, the council says the new road will reduce journey times, improve road safety, support economic growth, improve air quality in residential areas and support walking, cycling and public transport use by removing traffic from local roads and through the introduction of complementary measures.

The Norwich Western Link is designed to prevent congestion from worsening due to planned housing and employment growth in and around the city. The new road is intended to provide a reliable route for traffic to and from the north Norwich.

It will also improve access to the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital, Norwich Airport and the Food Enterprise Park at Easton. In combination with Broadland Northway, it will also provide an alternative route and help to keep traffic moving when there are issues such as roadworks or collisions on other major roads, including the Norwich outer ring road and the A47.

Announcing the government 85% funding commitment on 13 October, the council said the move would enable it to finalise work on the project’s planning application documents. It said a report “will be brought to a meeting of the council’s cabinet as soon as possible containing an update on the project” and cabinet members would be asked to approve submission of the planning application.

To date, the council has spent over £38M on the project’s business plan and preparatory work. Earlier this year, Labour councillors warned the final construction cost of the link road, estimated at £251m, could rise to £400m once long-term borrowing was factored in.

A Norfolk County Council spokesperson told NCE the council would prioritise keeping costs “under control” however. “Now that we have the government funding, we can get on with planning the project and getting spades in the ground. Obviously, the sooner we can complete the project, the more likely it is that we can avoid cost rises.”

The spokesperson added that the council was aiming to commence work as soon as possible, although a commencement date for construction had yet to be determined.

Commenting on the government’s funding commitment, Norfolk County Council’s leader Kay Mason Billig, said: “I’m delighted that the Government is showing its confidence in Norfolk by supporting the Norwich Western Link. This will make a huge difference to local people, tackling congestion and poor air quality.

“It enables us to complete this long overdue ring road around Norwich and unlock further opportunities for economic growth – providing more of the high skilled, well-paid jobs that Norfolk needs.

Councillor Graham Plant said the announcement “gives us a commitment from central government to fund the majority of the cost of the project and will bring an anticipated £213m of national investment into the county, with the potential for the government contribution to be uplifted to cover even more of the costs.

“Continuing to improve our transport infrastructure for all kinds of journeys is vital to the future success of our county and this endorsement of our business case brings the Norwich Western Link a significant step closer to being delivered.”

Jerome Mayhew, MP for Broadland, said: “My Norfolk parliamentary colleagues and I have been working closely with Norfolk County Council in Parliament to get this funding approved by HM Treasury and the Department for Transport. Not only will this ease traffic congestion on our local roads network, it will help bring over £200 million of national investment into our region and support access to ambitious growth plans at three major employment and enterprise hubs in Greater Norwich.

Environmental protesters against the plans staged a demonstration outside Whitehall in April, following claims the road would be catastrophic for the UK population of barbastelle bats.

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