Ferrovial wins £200m Norwich Western Link Road project

29/06/2021 | CHRIS AMES

Norfolk County Council has awarded the contract to design and build the controversial £200m Norwich Western Link road to Ferrovial Construction.

The cost of the 3.9-mile dual carriageway has increased from an estimated £152.7m contained in a 2019 strategic outline business to a current estimate of £198m.

The council’s cabinet has also agreed to approve the outline business case for the road, which has now been submitted to the Department for Transport.

Last year the scheme was given conditional entry into Government’s Large Local Majors programme and the council said that if the outline business case is approved, ‘this would provide a funding commitment from government which is expected to cover 85% of the £198 million total project costs’ (£168.63m).

However, last year the council said that approval under the programme would ‘unlock up to 85% of the total estimated £153 million cost of the project’ and it remains unclear whether the Government will increase its contribution to cover the additional costs.

As Highways has reported, funding under the National Roads Fund, which includes the LLM programme, has been cut by approximately £2bn to pay for the additional costs of Highways England’s 2012-25 Road Investment Strategy.

The new road would connect the western end of the Broadland Northway, which itself went significantly over budget, to the A47 trunk road.

The council said Ferrovial Construction will start work immediately alongside its existing project team to further develop the design of the road and that this work will feed into the pre-planning application public consultation, which is scheduled for the autumn. In turn, this will inform the planning application for the project, due to be submitted in early 2022.

Norfolk’s cabinet member for highways, transport and infrastructure, Martin Wilby, said: ‘Ferrovial Construction have a great track record in designing and building large-scale infrastructure projects and will bring specialist expertise to the project, including in relation to the design of the viaduct across the River Wensum.

‘Creating the Norwich Western Link is a priority for this council and it’s vital to ensuring we have the right infrastructure in place to not only tackle existing congestion and delays but to accommodate future population and job growth.’

Karl Goose, UK managing director, Ferrovial Construction, said: ‘We will be bringing our expertise and experience at delivering highways projects in the UK, Ireland and around the world to provide Norfolk County Council and the region with a world-class piece of infrastructure.'

The council said the business case demonstrated that the project – also known as the Wensum Link – would ‘provide high value for money, significantly reduce many journey times to the west of Norwich, improve road safety and reduce carbon emissions from vehicles’.

However, David Pett, lawyer for the Stop the Wensum Link action group, said: ‘Ferrovial have many planning bridges to cross before they can lay the first tarmac. The Wensum viaduct and this scheme may be a planning hurdle too far.

‘We will be watching closely to ensure that wildlife law will not be broken by disturbance of the barbastelle bat colony, the River Wensum Special area of Conservation is not compromised, and that climate laws and carbon budgets are not ignored.’

Highways InProfile

latest magazine issue
Highways jobs

Street Lighting Project Engineer

PO2 - £41,442 to £44,331
Help us keep our streets safe, efficient and ready for the future Greenwich, London (Greater)
Recruiter: Royal Borough of Greenwich

Principal Engineer - Highways Development Management

£47,181.00 - £50,269.00, Grade 11, 37 hours, Permanent
We are seeking a dedicated Principal Highways Development Management Engineer to join our team. Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Highways Development Management Engineer

£32,061.00 - £46,142.00, Career Grade 7-10, 37 hours, Permanent
Do you want to join a team helping to shape the future of Wakefield through HIghways Development Management? Wakefield, West Yorkshire
Recruiter: Wakefield Council

Highways Project Engineer

£31,537 - £42,839 per annum
Would you like to be part of our friendly, welcoming Highways team, proud to manage all aspects of the highway network? Boroughbridge, York
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Highways Project Engineer

£31,537 - £42,839 per annum
Would you like to be part of our friendly, welcoming Highways team, proud to manage all aspects of the highway network? Skipton, North Yorkshire
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Technician - Highway Inspector

Grade 8 £29,719 - £31,691 per annum
Within the Highways Maintenance Team we are looking for an enthusiastic, customer focused and experienced person Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Highway Design and Construction Manager

Grade N, scp50 £62,443 to scp53 £65,663 per annum, plus essential car user allowance
We embrace AI to enhance our operations and to innovate our services. Bolton, Greater Manchester
Recruiter: Bolton Council

Technician - Highway Inspector

Grade 8 £29,719 - £31,691 per annum
At Derbyshire, we have been on a journey to transform the way we deliver highway services. Derbyshire
Recruiter: Derbyshire County Council

Team Leader (Maintenance Operations)

Grade 10 - £48,226 - £51,356
Cardiff is growing faster than any other capital city in Europe. Cardiff (Caerdydd)
Recruiter: Cardiff Council

Highways Supervisor

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for a permanent Highways Supervisor Forfar, Angus
Recruiter: Amey

Tree Surveyor

£Competitive
We are excited to offer fantastic opportunities for Permanent Tree Surveyors Scotland
Recruiter: Amey

Chief Operating Officer – South West Wales Corporate Joint Committee

£Competitive
We’re looking for a bold, visionary leader to take on the role of Chief Operating Officer Carmarthenshire (Sir Gaerfyrddin)
Recruiter: Carmarthenshire County Council

Clerk of Works - Highways

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for a Clerk of Works to join our dynamic NMC SW Account team at Polmadie. Glasgow, Glasgow City
Recruiter: Amey

Highways Supervisor

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for a permanent Highways Supervisor to join our NMC NE account in Kinross. Perth and Kinross
Recruiter: Amey

Planner - Highways

£Competitive
We have a fantastic opportunity for Permanent Planner – Highways to join our NMC SW Account. Glasgow City
Recruiter: Amey

Highways Maintenance Manager

£51,356 - £55,539 per annum
We are looking for an experienced Engineer to join the team as a Highways Maintenance Manager Selby, North Yorkshire
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Highways Maintenance Manager

£51,356- £55,539 per annum
We are looking for an experienced Engineer to join the team as a Highways Maintenance Manager Brompton on Swale, Richmond
Recruiter: North Yorkshire Council

Permit Officer - Internal works promoter - WMF2244e

£34,434 - £35,412
The streetworks Permit Officer role within the highways service Kendal, Cumbria
Recruiter: Westmorland and Furness Council

Highways Development Management Engineer

£41,816 - £45,175
You will be based in the Highways Development Team and work closely with colleagues across the wider transport service. Northamptonshire
Recruiter: West Northamptonshire Council

Transport Project Officer

£34,203 - £37,067
We are seeking an enthusiastic and motivated project officer to work in our Highways and Transport Service. Northamptonshire
Recruiter: West Northamptonshire Council
SUBSCRIBE NOW

Latest Video

Subscribe to Highways today to ensure you keep your finger on the pulse of everything happening in the UK road network throughout the year.

SUBSCRIBE NOW