Norwich Roadworks This Week: A47 Thickthorn and Alexandra Rd

Two authorities are responsible for Norwich roadworks and neither of them is the city council. Norfolk County Council is the highway authority for every street in the city. National Highways looks after the A47 and the A11. The city council does bins, parking and planning. Knowing which one to check saves a lot of time.

Everything below comes from the authorities’ own notices, re-checked on Monday 5 October 2026.

The week ahead, in order

The work worth planning round this week is at night: on the A47 at Thickthorn, on the Broadland Northway and on the last train home from London.

• Monday 5 October, 8pm, to Tuesday 6 October, 6am: the A47 westbound is closed between the A140 Ipswich Road junction and Thickthorn.
• Monday 5 to Wednesday 7 October: the 23:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich train is replaced by a bus between Ipswich and Norwich.
• Monday 5 to Saturday 10 October, 7pm to 6am: the Broadland Northway is proposed to close overnight between the Fakenham Road and Cromer Road junctions.
• Tuesday 6 to Friday 9 October, 8pm to 6am: overnight lane closures and traffic management on the A47 Thickthorn roundabout.
• Tuesday 6 October: a short stretch of the Seabrook Court footpath, off Kerville Street, is proposed to close for a meter exchange.
• Tuesday 6 to Saturday 10 October: the Drayton High Road footpath to Lodge Breck is proposed to close in the daytime.
• Wednesday 7 and Thursday 8 October: Grant Street is proposed to close for 40 metres south of Speke Street for a gas pipe repair.
• Thursday 8 October, 1am to 6am: the A11 northbound entry and exit slips at the Mulbarton junction are closed.
• Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October: no East Midlands Railway trains between Norwich and Peterborough, and buses between Thetford and Cambridge North.

The newest Norfolk traffic notices on the public record are still the ones dated 25 September. As at 5 October, nothing newer had appeared on the Public Notice Portal for any Norwich postcode we checked (NR1, NR2, NR4, NR6 and NR7), or in the portal’s full list of live notices. Norfolk’s weekly batch has appeared days late before, so the Grant Street and Broadland Northway closures below are still proposals on the record, not confirmed orders.

What is closed in Norwich now

These orders have been made and are in force. The dates are the ones the council published. Every order can legally run to a much later backstop date if the work overruns, and that date is given in brackets.

Alexandra Road is the longest job inside the ring road. Anglian Water is replacing lead water pipes between Dereham Road and Earlham Road, and the closure runs to 13 November:

• Phase A: Dereham Road to Stafford Street. Diversion via Dereham Road, Gladstone Street and Stafford Street.
• Phase B: Stafford Street to Earlham Road. Diversion via Earlham Road, Gladstone Street and Stafford Street.

The notice says the two phases are not expected to run at the same time, so one end of the road should stay open throughout.

The Thorpe Hamlet drainage job is the one that catches residents out, because most of it is a parking ban rather than a closure. Short lengths of St Leonards Road, Marion Road, Florence Road and Beatrice Road are shut to vehicles, with pedestrian access kept. On top of that, longer stretches of St Leonards Road, Marion Road, Florence Road, Beatrice Road, Quebec Road and Hill House Road are under a ban on parking, stopping, loading and unloading on both sides of the carriageway until 30 October. The signed way round is Rosary Road, Thorpe Road, Telegraph Lane East, Telegraph Lane West and Quebec Road eastbound, and the reverse plus Carrow Road and Clarence Road westbound.

Dibden Road is shut for 40 metres east of the Crome Road junction, not the whole street, from 21 September 2026 to 17 October 2028. The order gives no alternative route.

Coming up in the city: Grant Street and Seabrook Court

Norfolk County Council’s Norwich notice dated 25 September proposes two new closures. As at 5 October, no notice making either order had been published.

• Grant Street, from Speke Street for 40 metres southwards, for a Cadent pipe repair. It is due from 8am on Wednesday 7 October to 6pm on Thursday 8 October, and may continue to 19 November. The way round is Speke Street, Hotblack Road and Dereham Road.
• Seabrook Court footpath, a 15-metre stretch about 33 metres south-west of Kerville Street, on Tuesday 6 October, for an Anglian Water meter exchange. The way round is the other Seabrook Court footpath and Kerville Street.

Finished since our last update

These closures have run their published course. The orders allow a later end date if the work overran, so a sign may still be up.

• Old Norwich Road, Newton St Faith, Cadent gas main replacement from Crown Road to Blind Lane, booked to 5 October. The order allows it to run to 5 April 2027.
• Back Street, Newton St Faith, Blind Lane to Abbey Road, booked to 2 October.
• Norwich to Ely trains, replaced by buses on 3 and 4 October.
• Ipswich to Stowmarket trains, replaced by buses on Sunday 4 October.

On the edge of the city

• Broadland Northway, nights from Monday 5 to Saturday 10 October. The county council proposes to close the A1270 between the A1067 Fakenham Road and the A140 Cromer Road junctions from 7pm to 6am, for gully cleaning, weed spraying and verge lowering. It may continue until 21 November. The signed way round runs through Hellesdon and Horsford: Cromer Road, Holt Road, Boundary Road, Aylsham Road, Drayton High Road and Fakenham Road. If you use the Northway to reach the airport or Drayton late at night, allow extra time.
• Hethersett Lane, Colney, from Braymeadow Lane for 800m northwards, is closed for footway reconstruction from 7 September to 24 December 2026, with a backstop of 6 March 2028. The order has been made. The signed route is Watton Road, the A47, Norwich Road and Colney Lane. That is the road network around the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the research park, so allow extra time if you drive to an appointment.
• Drayton Wood Road, Hellesdon, from St Andrews Road for 236m southwards, was proposed to close from Tuesday 29 September for carriageway repairs (may continue to 10 November). As at 5 October no notice making the order had been published, so we cannot confirm whether the work has started.
• Newton St Faith: Abbey Road, from Back Street to West Lane, is closed to 16 October under a made order. West Lane and a stretch of Blind Lane were proposed to close to 9 October, and no order making that has been published.
• North Walsham Road, Sprowston is closed until 13 November, nearly twelve weeks in total, for high voltage cable laying. Diversion via Barkers Lane, Cozens Hardy Road and Edwards Road.
• Drayton High Road footpath to Lodge Breck, 25 metres, is proposed to close from 8am to 6pm on 6 to 10 October for a new electrical connection.

Wroxham Road, Sprowston: a 40mph limit proposed, objections by 20 October

Norfolk County Council proposes a new 40mph stretch on the A1151 Wroxham Road on the way out of Sprowston towards Rackheath. The notice is dated 25 September.

• 40mph for 396 metres, starting 400 metres north-east of the Chenery Drive junction. That length is 50mph today.
• 50mph stays in place beyond it, now starting 796 metres north-east of Chenery Drive.
• The 30mph limit nearer the city does not change length.
• Two short shared footway and cycle track stretches, 15 and 64 metres, on the northern side.
• A toucan crossing on a new, unnamed estate road that joins Wroxham Road about 560 metres north-east of Chenery Drive.

The council says the cycle track and crossing are “to provide a safer environment for pedestrians and cyclists”. Objections must reach nplaw at County Hall, in writing, by 20 October 2026, or by email to trafficorders@norfolk.gov.uk.

Reepham Road, Horsford: the objection window on the 156-metre extension of the 50mph limit closed on 29 September. As at 5 October the council had not published a decision.

Trains: the line west is hit again this weekend

Norwich travellers heading west lose trains on most October weekends. There is also a late-night change on the London line this week.

• Monday 5 to Wednesday 7 October, last train from London: the 23:30 Liverpool Street to Norwich is replaced by a bus between Ipswich and Norwich, calling at Stowmarket and Diss, for overnight engineering work.
• Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October, Peterborough to Ely: no trains between Peterborough and Norwich. Replacement buses run direct between the two. Buses also replace trains between Cambridge North and Thetford, so a Cambridge trip that weekend means a train to Thetford and a bus on. Trains still run between Thetford and Norwich.
• Saturday 17 and Sunday 18 October, Peterborough to Ely: no trains between Peterborough and Norwich again, with direct buses between the two. This time trains keep running between Norwich and Ely, and buses replace trains between Ely and Cambridge.
• Saturday 31 October and Sunday 1 November: buses replace trains between Peterborough and Ely, Cambridge and Norwich, with all lines via Ely closed.

Our Norwich to London train guide has the normal timetable and fares. For those dates, check the journey planner on the day rather than the standard times.

A47 at Thickthorn: nights this week, then a wind farm convoy on 24 October

National Highways updated its A47 Thickthorn scheme page on 2 October with its October closures. All run from 8pm to 6am.

• Monday 5 October: A47 westbound closed between the A140 and Thickthorn, with a signed diversion and traffic management on Thickthorn roundabout. The scheme page gives the reason as vegetation clearance and tree work.
• Tuesday 6 to Friday 9 October: overnight lane closures and traffic management on the Thickthorn roundabout itself.

The biggest closure of the month is not roadworks at all. Orsted is moving large transformers for its Hornsea 3 offshore wind farm along the A47 on the weekend of 24 October. National Highways says the trailers weigh up to 350 tonnes and measure up to 85 metres long. Police will escort the convoy at no more than 12mph. The closures are:

• 8pm Saturday 24 October to 6am Monday 26 October: the A47 eastbound entry slip road at Thickthorn.
• 11pm Saturday 24 October to 6am Monday 26 October: the A47 eastbound closed overnight between the Wood Lane junction south roundabout and the Longwater interchange, including Norwich Road at Honingham roundabout in both directions.
• 8pm Sunday 25 October to 6am Monday 26 October: the A47 eastbound closed between Watton Road and Ipswich Road, so the Thickthorn traffic management can be reinstalled.

The signed diversion for the southern bypass section runs through Norwich on the A1074 and A140.

Further out on the A11, National Highways’ seven-day closure report, in the edition covering 2 to 8 October, books Ringway’s planting and cutting work on the A11 between Thickthorn and Red Lodge at night. Nearest to the city, the northbound entry and exit slips at the Mulbarton junction close from 1am to 6am on Thursday 8 October.

The A47 and A11 work at Thickthorn

The A47 Thickthorn junction scheme, where the A47 meets the A11 on the south-west edge of the city, is a National Highways project costing between £216m and £239m. It is digging two underpasses and building free-flowing connections between the two roads, plus a new Cantley Lane Link Road out to the B1172 Norwich Road. National Highways says the finished junction will take around 12,000 vehicles a day off the roundabout. Completion is given as 2028/29.

Where the traffic management stands now:

• The A47 eastbound has two lanes, one of them running by Thickthorn roundabout and rejoining without merging.
• To pay for that capacity, the A47 westbound is a single lane. National Highways says it will switch the contraflow in October 2026, after which westbound gets two lanes and eastbound drops to one, through to autumn 2027. Its 2 October update lists the month’s closures but still gives no date for the switch.
• Cantley Lane South is fully closed just north of the railway line, with no through route to the A47 westbound off-slip. Access is kept from the A11 exit slip and Station Lane.

The A11 between Thickthorn and Wymondham reopened at 06:00 on Sunday 20 September, a day earlier than published, after six 38-metre, 100-tonne bridge beams were lifted in for the future Cantley Lane Link Road. The full story is in A11 reopens a day early after Thickthorn bridge lift.

City car park charges changed on 21 September

Not a closure, but it changes what a trip into Norwich costs. Norwich City Council’s statutory notice varying its car park fees took effect on 21 September 2026. Most daily tariffs moved by 10p to 50p, season tickets rose by about 3.2 per cent, and Rose Lane gained a weekend all-day rate it did not have before. Our full breakdown, car park by car park, is in what Norwich car parks cost from 21 September.

What it means for you

Most of the disruption inside the city is small and local. The things worth planning round are at night, and the weekend of 24 October.

• Off Dereham Road or Earlham Road: Alexandra Road is shut until 13 November, though only one phase at a time. Grant Street, nearby, is proposed to close on 7 and 8 October.
• Off Crome Road: Dibden Road is shut until October 2028, with no signed diversion.
• Using Thickthorn late this week: expect lane closures on the roundabout every night from Tuesday to Friday, 8pm to 6am.
• Coming home from London late, Monday to Wednesday: the 23:30 from Liverpool Street becomes a bus at Ipswich.
• Using the Broadland Northway at night: it is proposed to close between Fakenham Road and Cromer Road from 7pm each night until Saturday.
• Driving east on the A47 on the weekend of 24 October: the Honingham to Longwater stretch and, on the Sunday night, the southern bypass from Watton Road to Ipswich Road are shut eastbound overnight.
• In Thorpe Hamlet: the parking ban around St Leonards Road runs to the end of October and it is enforceable.
• Driving to the hospital from the west: Hethersett Lane is closed until Christmas Eve.
• Living on the Wroxham Road side of Sprowston: you have until 20 October to comment on the 40mph proposal.

For anything that has appeared since these notices, including the water, gas and broadband holes that never reach a statutory notice, the live map is the only source that keeps up.

Park and ride is the reliable way in

Norwich has six park and ride sites and 4,567 spaces between them. Parking on site is free; you pay only for the bus.

Fares are £3 an adult, £2 for 5 to 19 year olds and concessions, £4 for two people and £5 for a group of up to five. Journeys into the centre take 12 to 20 minutes.

Four things that catch people out:

• Costessey does not go to the city centre. It is the biggest site of the six and Norfolk County Council states plainly that the service does not run into town. Its buses serve the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the UEA, Monday to Friday only.
• The hospital is not Costessey’s alone. The council also lists route 512 from the Airport site to the Norfolk and Norwich, by way of Hellesdon, Larkman Lane and the university.
• Postwick runs at half the frequency of the others, every 30 minutes on weekdays and hourly on Sundays. The other five drop to every 30 minutes on a Sunday.
• Overnight parking is not permitted at any site. If you come back after the last bus the entry barrier is closed, though you can still drive your car out.

Sprowston has a café, open six days a week from 07:00 to 15:30, and hosts a car boot sale on Sundays. The site gets busy but the buses still run. Airport and Harford have electric vehicle chargers; the Airport site has four.

For anything beyond the city, the station car park holds only 70 cars, so park and ride is often the better start to a train journey to London as well. If you are coming in for the day rather than commuting out, what there is to do is mostly within ten minutes’ walk of where the park and ride buses drop you.

The Norwich Western Link, and where it actually stands

The proposed link between the A47 and Broadland Northway on the west side of the city is often talked about as though it is being built. It is not.

Norfolk County Council withdrew its planning application in January 2025, after it could not resolve an objection from Natural England about barbastelle bats in the woodland west of Norwich. The scheme as designed was a 3.9 mile dual carriageway with a viaduct over the River Wensum.

The council is now running options assessment work costing £1.43 million, of which the Department for Transport has agreed in principle to fund £960,000. The options on the table include minor improvements to the existing road network, public transport and active travel measures, improvements to the existing B road from Wood Lane to Lenwade, and possible new single or dual carriageway routes. The council’s own page says it is “highly unlikely” that a dual carriageway route or a Wensum viaduct as previously proposed would be acceptable.

The timetable has slipped. When we re-read the council’s own Western Link page on 17 September, it said the council is “aiming to reduce the numerous options that were originally being considered down to a shortlist by early 2027”, followed by a public consultation on that shortlist. Earlier versions of this page, following the council’s June 2025 announcement, said the shortlist and a report to cabinet were due in 2026. So the honest summary is that there is no consented Western Link, no route, no start date, and no shortlist until early 2027 at the soonest.

Where to check before you set out

• Statutory closures: Norfolk County Council publishes every temporary traffic order in the local press and on the Public Notice Portal. That is the primary record: exact road, exact extent, dates, reason and diversion. It is where the closures above come from.
• Everything else, including utilities: the council points to the one.network roadworks map, searchable by road name or area. Most of the short-notice holes in a Norwich street are a water, gas or broadband job, and this is where they appear first.
• The A47 and A11: these are National Highways roads, so county council pages will not list them. The A47 Thickthorn scheme page carries the current traffic management and planned closures.
• Trains: National Rail lists every planned closure on its engineering works pages, which is where the October closures above come from. Greater Anglia’s own site carries ticket acceptance and the replacement bus stops.
• Enquiries: the county council’s streetworks team takes questions at streetworks@norfolk.gov.uk or 0344 800 8020.

Frequently asked questions

What roads are closed in Norwich right now?

Alexandra Road is closed in two phases until 13 November for lead pipe replacement. Part of Dibden Road, off Crome Road, is shut until 17 October 2028. Short lengths of St Leonards Road, Marion Road, Florence Road and Beatrice Road in Thorpe Hamlet are closed for drainage work until 30 October, with a parking ban on several neighbouring roads. Grant Street is proposed to close on 7 and 8 October. Abbey Road in Newton St Faith is closed to 16 October.

Is the A47 closed near Norwich?

There are overnight lane closures on the A47 Thickthorn roundabout from 8pm to 6am, Tuesday 6 to Friday 9 October. On the weekend of 24 October the A47 eastbound closes overnight between Wood Lane and Longwater, and on the Sunday night between Watton Road and Ipswich Road, so that transformers for the Hornsea 3 wind farm can be moved. National Highways published both on its Thickthorn scheme page on 2 October.

Is the A11 open at Thickthorn?

Yes. The A11 was closed in both directions between Thickthorn junction and Wymondham from 20:00 on Friday 18 September 2026 so that bridge sections could be craned into place. It reopened at 06:00 on Sunday 20 September, a day earlier than the 06:00 Monday time National Highways had published.

When are the trains out of Norwich next disrupted?

From Monday 5 to Wednesday 7 October the 23:30 from London Liverpool Street is replaced by a bus between Ipswich and Norwich. On Saturday 10 and Sunday 11 October there are no trains between Norwich and Peterborough, and buses replace trains between Thetford and Cambridge North. The Peterborough line is closed again on 17 and 18 October, and all lines via Ely close on 31 October and 1 November.

How long is Dibden Road closed for?

The order runs from 21 September 2026 to 17 October 2028, a little over two years, for building development works. Norfolk County Council made the order and gave no alternative route.

How long is Alexandra Road closed for?

The order runs from 7 September to 13 November 2026, in two phases that are not expected to overlap. The order allows the work to run to 13 May 2027 if it overruns.

Who is responsible for roadworks in Norwich?

Norfolk County Council is the highway authority for every road in the city except the A47 and A11, which are National Highways roads. Norwich City Council does not maintain roads.

Is the Norwich Western Link being built?

No. The planning application was withdrawn in January 2025 over an unresolved Natural England objection about barbastelle bats. Norfolk County Council is now assessing options, including options that are not a new road, and aims to have a shortlist by early 2027. There is no consented route or start date.

How much does Norwich park and ride cost?

£3 an adult, £2 for 5 to 19 year olds and concessions, £4 for two people and £5 for a group of up to five. Parking at the site is free.

Which Norwich park and ride is best for the hospital?

Costessey, on Long Lane, is the dedicated site for the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospital and the UEA, and its buses do not run into the city centre at all. Norfolk County Council also lists route 512 to the hospital from the Airport site.

Sources

• Norwich traffic notices, Norfolk County Council, 25 September 2026 for the proposed closures of Grant Street and the Seabrook Court footpath and the made order for the Bakers Road footpath. Re-checked on 5 October 2026: still the newest Norwich bundle on the portal.
• Norfolk temporary traffic regulation orders, 25 September 2026 for the proposed overnight closure of the A1270 Broadland Northway between Fakenham Road and Cromer Road and of the Drayton High Road footpath to Lodge Breck. It publishes no order making the Drayton Wood Road closure.
• Norwich temporary traffic regulation orders, Norfolk County Council, 18 September 2026 for the made orders on Mousehold Street and Dibden Road (spelt “Didben Road” in the notice) and the proposed Bakers Road footpath closure.
• Norfolk temporary traffic regulation orders, 18 September 2026 for the proposed closure of Drayton Wood Road in Hellesdon and the made orders on Abbey Road in Newton St Faith and Middle Road in Great Plumstead, and Norfolk multiple traffic notices, 18 September 2026 for the proposed closures of West Lane and Blind Lane in Newton St Faith and Lindsay Road in Sprowston.
• Norwich temporary traffic regulation orders, Norfolk County Council, 11 September 2026 for the original Mousehold Street proposal.
• Norfolk temporary traffic regulation orders, 11 September 2026 for the B1150 North Walsham Road closure in Beeston St Andrew and the made orders on Back Street in Newton St Faith and Green Lane in Great Plumstead.
• Norwich temporary traffic regulation orders, Norfolk County Council, 4 September 2026 for the made orders on Alexandra Road and Dibden Road.
• Norfolk temporary traffic regulation orders, 4 September 2026 for the proposed overnight closure of Yarmouth Road in Thorpe St Andrew and of Back Street in Newton St Faith, and for the made orders on Hethersett Lane in Colney and Blind Lane in Newton St Faith.
• Norwich temporary traffic regulation orders, 28 August 2026 for the made order covering St Leonards Road, Marion Road, Florence Road, Beatrice Road, Quebec Road and Hill House Road.
• Horsford, C261 Reepham Road (50mph Speed Limit) Order 2026 and Cycle Track/Footway Notice 2026, dated 4 September 2026, for the 156-metre extension, the 4,109-metre restricted length, the two shared-use footway stretches and the 29 September objection deadline.
• Norfolk temporary traffic regulation orders, 28 August 2026 for Hethersett Lane in Colney, Blind Lane in Newton St Faith and the made order for Old Norwich Road.
• Norwich temporary traffic regulation orders, 7 August 2026 for Onley Street and Leicester Street, and 31 July 2026 for All Saints Green.
• Norfolk temporary traffic regulation orders, 21 August 2026 for North Walsham Road in Sprowston, and 14 August 2026 for the 30mph limit on Reepham Road in Drayton.
• Sprowston and Rackheath, A1151 Wroxham Road combined notices 2026, Norfolk County Council, dated 25 September 2026, for the proposed 40mph limit, the shared-use footway stretches, the toucan crossing and the 20 October objection deadline.
• A47 Thickthorn junction near Norwich, National Highways, re-read on 5 October 2026, for its 2 October update on the October closures and the Orsted Hornsea 3 transformer convoy, and for the scheme cost, the 12,000 vehicles a day figure, the current lane arrangements, the October 2026 contraflow switch (no date given), the six 38-metre, 100-tonne bridge beams, the early A11 reopening and the 2028/29 completion date.
• Norwich City Council (Variation in Car Parks Fees and Charges) Notice 2026, dated 21 August 2026, for the 21 September change to car park charges.
• National Rail engineering works notices, re-read on 5 October 2026: 23:30 London Liverpool Street to Norwich, 5 to 7 October; Peterborough to Ely, 10 and 11 October; via Ely, 17 and 18 October; and Peterborough to Ely, Cambridge and Norwich, 31 October and 1 November.
• National Highways seven-day closure report, the edition covering Friday 2 to Thursday 8 October, downloaded on 5 October 2026, for the overnight closure of the A47 westbound between the Ipswich Road and Thickthorn interchanges and the A11 slip road closures at Mulbarton.
• Park and Ride sites, Travel Norfolk for the six sites, addresses, space counts, frequencies, the café hours and the overnight parking rule, and Park and Ride, Travel Norfolk for the fares and route 512.
• About the Norwich Western Link, Norfolk County Council and New options assessment work for Norwich Western Link, 27 June 2025, for the withdrawn planning application, the bat objection, the £1.43m options work and the £960,000 DfT contribution. The first page, re-read on 17 September 2026, is the source for the early 2027 shortlist date.

Roadworks move. A temporary traffic order states an anticipated date but can legally run to a much later end date, and start dates slip. Everything above was checked against the authorities’ own notices on 5 October 2026; check the live map before you set out.