Lorries avoiding official diversion route off A14 could face enforcement action
Truck drivers are facing enforcement action by officials for using unspecified diversion routes due to the night time closure of the A14 between Woolpit and Bury St Edmunds.
Residents living in the village of Norton on the A1088 have been reported to have described the vehicles causing horrendous noise and vibrations.
Other people living by the side the road, which links Woolpit and Elmswell with Ixworth, have also encountered disturbances by the lorries.
A 7.5 tonne weight limit is operated on the route, with a permit required for hauliers who want to travel along the road.
Work to resurface the stretch of the A14 began towards the end of last month and is scheduled to carry on until August with the road closed from 8pm to 6am, week nights only.
The official diversion route takes traffic off along the A140 to Diss and along the A143 before re-joining the A14 at Bury St Edmunds.
But lorries are ignoring that and are travelling to where the road is closed at Woolpit and going through the 7.5 tonne weight limit.
A spokesperson for National Highways said that drivers are urged to follow the carefully planned routes rather than their satellite navigation systems.
At one point a total of 59 HGVs had been recorded passing through overnight in a single evening and which was recorded by one resident.
Andy Mellen, the ward member for Thedwastre North at Suffolk County Council, is reported to be trying to get enforcement action for the weight limit.
And he said it is clear that a lot of other HGVs are using that route rather than the official diversion.
Meanwhile, one resident living in Norton said the situation is “horrendous”.
“They (the truck drivers) are coming to where the road is closed at Woolpit and then coming through the 7.5 tonne weight limit.
“The noise and the rumble and the vibrations is unbelievable.”
People posting on the social media site Nextdoor also weighed in with their views.
Lorraine Frost, who lives in Stanton, said: “They (the lorries) cause so much devastation and do not stick to the speed limit either.”
While a resident in Fakenham Magna added: “Traffic is also diverting through Euston, Fakenham Magna, Honington and Ixworth to avoid the official route. It’s horrendous through here too. Something needs to be done now.”
These moaners would soon be whinging if they went to the shops and the shelves were empty. Lorry drivers jobs are hard enough without all these road closures. Obviously these residents are not bothered about the excess traffic causing the same problem going through Great Barton. And who is the sad individual that went and counted the trucks you must have a sad life. So if al the permit holders who can use the road went back and forth all night which they could legally do would the residents of Norton complain about them?
I’m a truck driver .
I’ve been told not to go through the weight limit at Norton
When the highways people plan these roadworks if they closed the road from 9pm it would give most of the night trunks out of Ipswich and Felixstowe a chance to get through before the closure. I leave Ipswich at 8pm
To go up to Diss on the proper diversion route adds 50minutes to my journey and means a delay for my freight which connects with a truck from Scotland.
Couple this with the other closures at the A1 /A14 junction and my usual runtime of 2 hrs 45mins is now 3 hrs 50.
Roadworks take too long, and whilst I sympathise with residents it’s not the drivers fault
I don’t know why they can’t use a contra flow system and repair one carriageway at a time. That seems to happen elsewhere and whilst it causes queues they would waste less time than the Diss route.
Road closures on major trunk routes should not be in place before 9pm gov is lorry drivers half a chance