About £120,000 is to be spent to replace damaged signs and kerbs on several controversial roundabouts on the Norwich Northern Distributor Road, following a succession of crashes.
First up for repairs on November 5 is the Fir Covert Road roundabout, followed by those at Reepham Road, Drayton Lane, North Walsham Road, Salhouse Road and Plumstead Road.
The work is likely to take a week to complete at each location. Weather permitting, the plan is to complete works at one roundabout before moving on to the next.
The road, now known as the Broadland Northway, will remain open at all times with some lane closures in place while work is under way. On all of the busiest junctions the work will be done during the day, outside peak hours. On the other two, Reepham Road and Fir Covert Road, the work will start at 7:30am and continue until dusk.
While the lane closures are in effect, Norfolk County Council will also carry out a number of additional works. This will include the installation of some extra countdown signs and some tweaks being made to the white lines to help drivers use the roundabouts. More trees and shrubs will be planted and grass cutting and pruning will be done while contractors are on site.
The work is being carried out following a review of the video monitoring that has been carried out. In July, the council spent a week filming four of the roundabouts on the £205m road, after receiving complaints about their design.
There have been 15 crashes resulting in an injury on the road since it opened, with almost all happening at a roundabout. Although critics have blamed the design of the junctions, the council maintains that issues including vehicles veering into signs, barriers and central islands have been caused by some drivers approaching the roundabouts too fast, and vehicles crossing paths as one of them left the roundabout.
The council also said countdown markers that were installed at the airport roundabout in July and Wroxham Road in September had proved successful in reminding drivers to slow down on approaching the junctions. It is hoped similar reminders at the other roundabouts will have the same effect.
The work is expected to be completed by mid-December.
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