A47 road (Great Britain)
Route of the proposed A47 Acle Straight scheme
|
|
| Location | Norfolk |
|---|---|
| Proposer | Norfolk County Council |
| Geometry | KML |
The A47 is a trunk road in England linking Birmingham to Lowestoft, Suffolk. Most of the section between Birmingham and Nuneaton is now classified as the B4114.
The original (1923) route of the A47 was Birmingham to Great Yarmouth, but there were some changes made to its route in the early years. At its eastern end, the A47 originally ran through Filby and Caister, with the Acle Straight bearing the number B1140. The A47 was rerouted along the Acle straight in 1935, with the old route being renumbered as the A1064 (Acle to Caister) and part of the A149 (Caister to Great Yarmouth).
The second change also dates from 1935. The A47 originally ran via Downham Market, not King's Lynn. In 1935, it was rerouted via King's Lynn, replacing part of the A141 (Wisbech to King's Lynn) and part of the A17 (King's Lynn to Swaffham). The old route via Downham Market was renumbered as the A1122 (Outwell to Swaffham) and part of the A1101 (Wisbech to Outwell).
The third change took place some time before 1932. The original route of the A47 between Guyhirn and Wisbech was via Wisbech St Mary, with the direct route being part of the A141. This is because there was no road bridge over the River Nene at Guyhirn, and hence no junction between the A47 and the A141. Some time between 1923 and 1932 a bridge was built, and the A47 and the A141 swapped routes between Guyhirn and Wisbech.
Major improvements were made from the late 1970s until early in the 1990s. The 7 mile (11.3 km) £5 million part-dual-carriageway East Dereham Bypass built on part of the disused railway line was opened in spring 1978 followed by a five-mile (8 km) part-dual-carriageway Swaffham Bypass, costing £5 million which was opened in June 1981. Bypasses for Uppingham (£1.4 million) and Blofield (£4 million) were opened in 1982 and 1983 respectively. The southern section of the Great Yarmouth Western Bypass was opened in May 1985 and the northern section in March 1986 at a cost of £19 million followed by improvements to the one mile (1.6 km) Postwick-Blofield section (£1.2 million) which was opened in November 1987. In 1989 Acle Bypass was completed as a cost of £7.1 million and the £1.2 million East Norton Bypass was opened in December 1990. The three mile (4.8 km) £9 million East Dereham-North Tuddenham Improvement opened in August 1992 and the £62 million Norwich southern Bypass in September 1992.
...
Wikipedia