Norfolk County Council has voted to proceed with the West Winch Housing Access Road, costing more than £100m, after the project was granted planning permission earlier this autumn.
Designed to cut congestion on the A10 and A47 in the west of the county and enable the construction of 4,000 new homes, it is also expected to take heavy traffic out of the village of West Winch.
According to reports, the project's budget could increase to £121.7m due to a rise in costs to divert two gas lines on the route - this follows a previous cost increase from £91m to £109m.
The council plans to work with Homes England and the Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk to find funding solutions to cover any additional costs, with an update on the finalised arrangements expected to be presented ‘early next year'.
The road will have five roundabouts providing links to the A47 in the north, the A10 in the south, and three others to accommodate connections to future housing developments.
With the project now approved, the council will proceed with the implementation of a compulsory purchase order (CPO) to acquire the necessary land and begin procurement for a contractor to carry out road construction, which is scheduled to begin in winter 2026.
Commenting on the planning approval, Cllr Graham Plant, cabinet member for highways, infrastructure and transport at Norfolk County Council, said: ‘It's fantastic that we've now got planning approval for this important infrastructure project, which comes after getting Outline Business Case approval from the Department for Transport in April, so we've achieved two big milestones this year.
‘The Government wants us to build this road, the borough council wants us to build this road and we want to build this road - so, working together, I'm confident we can make it happen.'
