We asked businesses across the region with a combined turnover of £5.5 billion that employ 50,000+ staff what a fully dualled A47 could do for them:
The A47 is a very important road: it carries traffic, freight and public transport across East Anglia from the Midlands and the north of England, catering for residents, visitors and businesses alike.
The road is part of National Highways’ network and has missed out on significant investment in the past to bring it up to standard, meaning that today it is not fit for purpose.
53% of the A47 is single carriageway. 90% of fatal accidents on the A47 over the past five years have occurred on the single carriageway sections. The annual cost to the UK of fatal accidents on the A47 is expected to be over £25 million.
We asked businesses across the region with a combined turnover of £5.5 billion that employ 50,000+ staff what a fully dualled A47 could do for them:
95% said it would reduce inefficiencies and delays travelling.
90% said it would attract more customers.
88% said it would allow them to invest with confidence.
“Full dualling of the A47 (from Lowestoft in the East all the way through to the A1 in Cambridgeshire in the West) is vital if we are to ensure the long term safety of motorists and help unlock Norfolk and the East’s full economic potential. That’s why I remain committed to working with fellow parliamentary colleagues and the Alliance to drive forward that campaign and fight for more funding, upgrades and improvements – so that we can attract the investment we need to create thousands of new jobs and opportunities, as well as spread prosperity, ‘Level Up’ and breathe fresh life into our local communities. ”
“Dualling the A47 is absolutely vital for my constituents. By better connecting our road infrastructure to key industries and tourism destinations we can attract inward investment and create jobs across the region. Dualling would also guarantee fast, reliable, and safe journeys by easing congestion on the network and ultimately save lives. I want to see a commitment to A47 dualling in the third Road Infrastructure Strategy, and will be lobbying Government to this effect. ”
“The A47 is one of the most important roads in the country – linking the ports of the East of England with my city of Peterborough and beyond to the Midlands and the North.
It’s also sadly one of the most neglected roads in the country – over half the road is still single carriageway.
One of the bottlenecks is in Peterborough – and we urgently need the duplication of the Peterborough to Wisbech section.
It is estimated that dualling this section would see a 40% reduction in accidents. It would improve connectivity and boost economic growth across the region and beyond.
Importantly, it would improve the reliability of journeys between Peterborough, Eye and Thorney. Local people have put up with congestion on this road for far too long deserve their fair share of national infrastructure spending. ”
“The A47 is a vital transport route not only for Norfolk but for the country. I fully support the efforts to dual the whole length including the Acle Straight. As works continue to improve the internal flow of traffic in Great Yarmouth Town, it is essential that we press on with planned improvements to the Vauxhall Roundabout, once complete the Acle Straight is the logical next step.
A dualled Acle Straight, partnered with the Third River Crossing and improved roundabouts, would enable significantly improved journey times, boosting the economy and reducing wasteful emissions caused by idling traffic.”
“Dualling the A47 is vital to improve road safety, boost jobs and investment, and support economic growth along this strategic route. I will continue to work with MPs, businesses, and councils across the region to support the A47 Alliance’s compelling case to include three priority schemes in the Road Investment Strategy 3.
Investing in the Tilney to East Winch scheme, including the Hardwick Flyover, would reduce fatalities, cut delays, attract investment, enhance productivity, and unlock new homes in King’s Lynn and across the area.
The message from businesses, MPs, and councils, is clear - just dual it.”
Create £330m+ uplift in GVA (gross value added) from new employment.
Unlock housing developments restricted by poor regional capacity, with 125,000 houses and 75,000 jobs planned along the route.
Further dualling is directly attributed to over £550m of land value uplift.
Provide opportunities for improved walking and cycling facilities and an improved corridor for public transport, benefitting from reduced congestion on the A47.
Reduce additional costs to businesses due to delays, estimated at £25m for haulage companies.
Generate £200m+ benefits from enhanced productivity.
Offers opportunities for low carbon construction methods to be used by National Highways
Bring about benefits of £40m in regional markets by reducing delay and congestion and increasing efficiency.
“Norwich Airport strongly supports calls for the dualling of the A47. With 1.5 million people living within 90 minutes of the airport, good surface transport links are vital to connectivity. Upgrading this essential corridor would greatly improve journey times and reliability, while boosting productivity and unlocking new investment in our region. We urge the Government to commit to dualling the A47 now.”
“Chantry Place Shopping Centre supports the A47 Alliance’s ask for A47 dualling because improvements in transport infrastructure release opportunity for businesses and communities and with it the potential for social value. It also improves journey times and safety for our staff, logistics for our supply chains and makes our destination more attractive for visitors with the disincentive of an inadequate road network removed.”
“Our business, the East of England Co-op, supports the A47 Alliance’s call for A47 dualling. A fully dualled A47 would help our business to help us to attract more national and international business. This would be achieved by improving links between ports and airports and the national trunk road network. This in turn, would improve accessibility to our stores, which would help attract more customers and strengthen our business.”
“We recognise the importance the A47 road improvements will have for Norwich and surrounding areas, as a large renewable energy developer and generator looking to make future investments in the region to expand the UK’s clean energy ambitions, RWE supports the program. The road scheme will support local investment and jobs, thereby supporting economic growth along this strategic route.
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“The Cambridgeshire Chambers of Commerce proudly supports the proposed improvements to the A47. This vital route not only connects several key economic centres throughout our region (mainly Peterborough and Wisbech) but also serves as a critical link from Birmingham to Lowestoft, supporting everywhere along the route. The planned enhancements will significantly reduce travel times, enhance safety, and increase reliability for all users.
We believe that the A47 road improvements will unlock substantial economic benefits, facilitating smoother transportation of goods and services and promoting efficiency. By easing congestion and updating infrastructure, these improvements stand to bolster local businesses and attract new investment into the area. The positive ripple effects of this project will undoubtedly extend beyond immediate logistics and transport sectors, fostering broader economic growth and development throughout Cambridgeshire and beyond.
The A47 road improvements are a strategic investment in our region's future economic health and competitiveness. We look forward to seeing the positive outcomes these enhancements will bring for our members and the broader business community.”
“Suffolk has a number of key UK assets including Felixstowe, the UK largest container port, Ipswich the UK's largest grain exporting port, Sizewell and the Port of Lowestoft serving the East of England's energy coast. Despite these key assets, the strategic road network connecting Suffolk with the rest of the UK is woefully inadequate. Therefore, Suffolk Chamber of Commerce supports the call for dualling of the A47, as well as campaigns to improve congested sections of the A14, A12 and A11. It is also important that Government recognises that delaying these much needed improvements is a false economy, as poor connectivity is delaying much needed economic growth”
“At FSB, we represent thousands of small businesses across the East of England. And we know directly from our members that the A47 causes huge disruption and delays because it is notoriously slow and dangerous! Transporting goods, travelling to meetings, and staff commuting all takes far longer than it should. This not only costs businesses money but it also deters customers.
We also know that many businesses who would like to set up in the region are deterred by the poor transport links - a road network that is simply not fit for a vibrant and prosperous region like ours. Small businesses need supporting and we need swift and decisive action to dual the A47. ”
“Cabins and Containers supports the A47 Alliance’s ask for A47 dualling because external hauliers do not want to or refuse to come here. We have storage space we could use at Hopton but we keep our stock in an alternative yards at Cabridge or Essex because transporting the cabins to Hopton costs a fortune due to how bad the roads are. We have also been considering opening a display yard but given how bad the A47 is I would not open it here. The best local site we looked at for location and transport costs was the A11.
I’ve lived in Gorleston for 20 years now and unlike most areas that have shown growth over the years the population around Great Yarmouth is well below average. From 2011 to 2021 the East of England (not including London) has shown an average of 8.3% growth, Great Yarmouth is 2.6%. This has mainly to do with not attracting businesses like “Norfolk Line” to stay here. Again looking at the figures there are just over 70,000 employed people living in Great Yarmouth area but only around 38,000 jobs within Great Yarmouth meaning that nearly half the population are having to drive out of area for work.
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“Core recruiter supports the A47 Alliance's call for A47 dualling due to the manifold benefits it promises. Firstly, such an upgrade would significantly enhance accessibility, making it easier for businesses to tap into diverse talent pools and for potential candidates to commute to work. Secondly, the reliability offered by dual carriageways in terms of travel times and reduced congestion is invaluable for recruiters orchestrating interviews and ensuring punctuality among candidates. This reliability fosters efficiency in the recruitment process. Thirdly, the economic implications are profound; an improved A47 could spur economic development along its route by facilitating smoother transportation of goods and services.
Consequently, this development could lead to an expansion in job opportunities within the region, thereby enriching the talent pool available to core recruiter.”
“Our farm is split by the A47 and our yard is on the Beeston junction. Dualling the A47 would improve our links to grain customers, reduce lorry turnaround times and improve our access to markets for quality grains into the midlands and down to key ports. ”
“Our businesses, Pasta Foods and Snack Creations, supports the A47 Alliance’s ask for A47 dualling because we have four sites in Norfolk – all are either situated on the A47 or adjacent to it.
All of our 180 staff depend therefore in one way or another on the smooth functioning of this key road. This is either though their journeys to our factories, which all operate 24/7, or through the requirements for incoming raw materials and outgoing deliveries all dependent upon an efficient road network.
Therefore, this road improvement project of the A47 is crucial to the ongoing growth and development of our businesses.”
“We are a family owned long established manufacturing business based in Great Yarmouth. Our customer base is predominately UK and we deliver via our own lorry and receive goods via road transport.
Dualling of the Acle straight would have a significant beneficial impact on our delivery schedules, by reducing traffic holdups, reducing our drivers stress, including maintaining driver hours. It would also benefit existing employees traveling in from the Norwich area.
As a growing business it would assist with our recruitment/employment opportunities making it more attractive for potential employees from Norwich and further afield.
Finally it would be advantageous for visitors to our factories both customers and suppliers and would provide a positive impression as an area of growth and investment. ”
“Uptech Ltd supports the A47 Alliance’s ask for A47 dualling because as a business servicing East Anglia, but being Norfolk Centric, these are roads that are travel consistently. To have the A47 as a whole dual carriageway would provide much better links to other areas, and easier travel for our staff when visiting clients. The time lost by businesses in the traffic caused by the current set up can be hours. ”
“Westcotec supports the A47 Alliance’s ask for A47 dualling because as a company working all over the British Isles, we are often restricted because of the lack of reliable routes to the motorway network.
We would welcome the A47 being dualled asap to support us in our efforts to grow and as a result lift the economy of Norfolk and East Anglia.”
“[Improvements to the A47] would help in all aspects of our transport. Making it easier to get goods in but also out.
It would also bring us more work opportunities as it if transport was easier it would bring down our costs. ”
“[Improvements to the A47] would make the road safer and easier to drive.
Stop the traffic building up so badly at the bottle necks.
Journey times would be less and as traffic wouldn't build up the same there would be less pollution.”
“My son lives in Peterborough and it would be great if the A47 was duelled. 1) it would be safer due to people trying to overtake on the single carriageway. 2) it would be a more relaxed journey. 3) it would be quicker. ”
“I travel to Norwich on a very frequent basis and the time taken if the Acle straight were dialled would cut the journey time down substantially. The main reason I would like it dualled though is down to safety. There are multiple serious and fatal accidents on that stretch of road annually due to overtaking into oncoming traffic and no escape route for miscalculations. Farm traffic, bikes and other slow moving traffic use the road continually so to make overtaking safe it has to be dualled. When there is an accident the road is shut due to its poor access and no way around an incident, which causes havoc with the surrounding road systems that aren’t able to cope with the volume and size of vehicles. ”
“Improvements to the A47 would make it easier and faster to get to Great Yarmouth for shopping and visiting the sea front for leisure and a day out. ”
“I am a regular user of the A47, commuting along the route from Wansford to Kings Lynn. The A47 is a major east-west route, as important as the A14 parallel route to the south and should be treated as such in terms of government infrastructure investment. ”
“The Acle straight is a dangerous road which I have to drive down almost daily. It is regularly closed due to accidents causing massive disruption and I fear that one day I will be caught up on one of these accidents myself.”
“[Improvements to the A47] would significantly speed up my commute to Dereham.”
“People lose lives on this road every year. If there's an accident, travel to work is horrific and takes over an hour instead of 15 mins. ”
Learn more about what we are asking of the Government and why we have chosen these priorities.
Our prioritiesFind out more about our current and past campaigns to dual the A47 and how you can help.
About out campaigns