19 May 2016
Dear Letters Editor,
Postwick Hub is a strong contender for the worst designed junction ever built. (Postwick Hub junction trial abandoned after 40 minutes as traffic lights test causes queues EDP/EEN 18 May).
At the 2013 Planning Inquiry, it was shown to have the poorest value for money for any recent UK road scheme as it would increase journey times.
Norfolk County Council, with the support of Norwich, Broadland and South Norfolk Councils, blindly promoted Postwick Hub because they were intent on forcing it through as the first stage of the Northern Distributer Road.
One fundamental design flaw is that two major streams of traffic from the NDR and A47 east will converge on a complex signalised junction, with only short link roads to accommodate the flows before tailbacks set in.
Traffic from A47 east travelling to east Norwich is already causing tailbacks just five months after opening. The worst is yet to come.
Huge amounts of additional traffic will pour in from the NDR (32,000 vehicles daily from 2018, rising to 43,000 in 2033). New business parks and 10,000 new dwellings served by Postwick Hub have yet to be built.
Because New Anglia Local Enterprise Partnership wants some new office employment for Great Yarmouth to locate in north-east Norwich close to the airport, additional car commuting can be anticipated along A47 east and through Postwick Hub.
Norfolk County Council’s plans for a £100 million tunnel under A11/Thickthorn roundabout would suck in more traffic to the Southern Bypass and Postwick Hub.
At the public inquiry, Norfolk County Council agreed that Postwick Hub would cause delays and some drivers would enter Norwich via alternative routes.
This is already happening, with drivers using Carrow Road, Blofield Heath and Salhouse Road in order to avoid Postwick Hub.
Both the Tories before 2013, and the Labour/UKIP/Lib Dem Alliance since, have poured public money relentlessly into this scheme. Considerably more scarce public funds will have to be spent over the coming years to ameliorate, if possible, the mess they have created.
The public will have the chance to hold local politicians to account over the Postwick Hub fiasco in next year’s County Council elections.
Yours faithfully,
Councillor Denise Carlo
Green Party
Nelson ward, Norwich
