Long-awaited work is due to start resurfacing a riverbank footpath which will “improve residents’ lives and transform access” into a West Norfolk town.
The £287,000 project is set to start on Friday on a stretch of the West Lynn pathway which forms part of the trail, named the King Charles III coastal trail in 2023.
Contractors working on behalf of Norfolk County Council will be upgrading the unmade surface to a 1.2m-wide tar and chip pathway. The work is expected to take eight weeks, during which time the footpath will be closed and a diversion in place for pedestrians.
The path will be closed from Clenchwarton Road to the pavilion on the flood defence embarkment where it meets the concrete millennium path. Walkers will have to use an alternative route via St Peter’s Road and then Bankside to access the millennium path.
Alexandra Kemp, a county and borough councillor for the area, described it as a “real victory for disability access and young families with buggies” and she is “pleased and relieved” work is to start. She said the new surface will “improve residents’ lives and transform access into Lynn from West Lynn and Clenchwarton”.
The county council has said the work follows a successful bid led by Cllr Kemp and the council for funding from West Norfolk Borough Council’s Community Infrastructure Levy Fund. Ms Kemp used £5,000 from her county councillor highway budget towards the scheme.
A county council spokesperson said the upgrade will “improve active travel between King’s Lynn and West Lynn, better connect our communities and make walking a more accessible option all year round, benefiting the health and wellbeing of local residents.”
