Overnight closures for main road speed cameras

The A47 Acle Straight will be closed weekdays between Monday and 7 May as National Highways installs the average speed cameras

The main road into a Norfolk seaside town will be closed for most of the next nine weeks to allow safety cameras to be installed.

National Highways will start work on Monday to erect four average speed monitors on the A47 between Acle and Great Yarmouth.

The government agency has put up signs saying the route will be shut Monday-Friday between 20:00 and 06:00 until 7 May.

"This scheme aims to improve safety for all road users by reducing the number of people harmed on this route," said National Highways on its website.

It has published details of a 25-mile (40km) diversion via the A146 at Trowse near Norwich to the A143 at Gillingham near Beccles, through to Great Yarmouth.

Once work is complete, the speed limit for cars will be dropped from 60mph (97km/h) to 50mph (80km/h).

"Our ambition is that no-one should be harmed while travelling or working on our roads," a spokesperson added.

Graham Plant, Norfolk County Council portfolio holder for transport, said he would prefer the route be upgraded to a dual carriageway

According to crashmap.co.uk, which says it maps collision data using information from the government and police forces, there were 17 collisions classed as either serious or fatal along the road between May 2019 and January 2025.

Conservative Graham Plant, the county council portfolio holder for transport, said the A47 Alliance wanted the road - stretching from Lowestoft to Peterborough - to be a dual carriageway.

"Average speed cameras aren't what we wanted but given the accident rate on this stretch, safety will always be a major factor," he said.

However, he said he was not happy with a reduced speed limit of 50mph.

Traffic will be limited to 50mph once the work is complete