A link road which will connect traffic to the Norwich Northern Distributor Road will be opened this week.

New Drayton Lane – a link road between the B1149 Holt Road and Reepham Road – will open to traffic on Thursday afternoon.

Officers at Norfolk County Council say the opening of the link road, which is just over half a mile long, is an important milestone for the £178.5m NDR, since it unlocks completion of the junction between the NDR and the A140 Cromer Road.

The new link road realigns the original narrow and winding Drayton Lane.

New Drayton Lane runs from a recently completed roundabout on the B1149 Holt Road, crosses the NDR at a major roundabout, and continues to join Reepham Road at another new roundabout.

The opening of New Drayton Lane will be followed on Friday by the permanent closure of Holly Lane, which currently provides the Holt Road to Reepham Road link.

About a month later the B1149 Holt Road will close permanently south of Horsford, when all B1149 traffic will be rerouted on to the new link road.

As reported, that work has been delayed because BT would not allow its cables, which need to be diverted over a new bridge, to be moved while the World Athletics Championships take place in London.

The council said the closures of Holly Lane and Holt Road are necessary because they are cut by the NDR dual carriageway and the slip roads that will serve the junction with the A14O Cromer Road.

Once complete, the NDR, which has been given the number A1270, will re-connect Holt Road traffic with the A140.

The original Drayton Lane still exists as a cul-de-sac from its junction at Holt Road, and as a traffic-free cycleway.

South of Reepham Road, Drayton Lane continues on its original alignment, joining Drayton Hall Lane at a recently constructed mini-roundabout.

When complete, the NDR will stretch from the A47 at Postwick to the A1067 Fakenham Road.

Supporters say it will bring an economic boost and speed up journey times, but critics say it will lead to more of the countryside being concreted over and merely encourage more use of cars.