A multi-million pound scheme to prevent traffic crawling through the middle of an ancient monument could be a waste of money, councillors fear.
Plans to redevelop the Southgates area of Lynn – a key entryway into the town – will see the space around the 600-year-old fortification pedestrianised, with the main road into the diverted and a roundabout replaced by new junctions.
But councillors fear the scheme could do little to fix the town’s traffic woes.
The government has agreed £24m in Levelling Up funding for the scheme.
At a meeting of the West Norfolk Council regeneration and development panel, Ben Jones, the deputy leader of the Labour group, said the plan “scares” him and would lead to even more bottlenecks.
“I just can’t say I feel safe looking at it without knowing how many lanes of traffic are coming into the town and how many are going out,” he said.
He argued it would cause more roads to be backed up in the event of an accident.
Terry Parish, leader of the independent group, echoed Mr Jones’ fears, saying that removing the entry through Southgate would push people onto narrower roads, speeding up bottlenecks.
Peter Gidney, a Conservative councillor, agreed, saying he did not think it would make much difference.
But council officer Duncan Hall argued the scheme would help improve the town gateway, which has a “dreadful safety record” that he described as “abominable to navigate on foot or a bike”.
“For people that live in that area or who want to travel through by something other than a private car we have got to hear those voices.”
Almost 80% of the hundreds taking part in a public consultation agreed with re-routing the road to allow the historic gate to become a tourism destination.
The scheme will now proceed to a cabinet meeting next week.
