Lane closures on Orwell Bridge to begin tomorrow

The Orwell Bridge will have a series of lane closures beginning tomorrow (Monday, June 16), as work is taking place to replace two expansion joints on the westbound carriageway of the busy road.

The crossing will be open for most of the time with the closing of the lanes between 8pm and 6am.

From tomorrow there will be overnight lane closures in both directions and from Friday, June 20, to Tuesday, June 24 (including the weekend), the eastbound carriageway (towards Felixstowe) will be closed overnight from 8pm to 6am the following morning. The westbound carriageway will remain open but reduced to one lane overnight. 

The following week, from Monday, June 23, the eastbound carriageway (towards Felixstowe) will be reduced to one lane during the daytime. Westbound will be unaffected. 

From Wednesday, June 25, the westbound carriageway will be closed from 8pm and remain closed as contraflow begins the following morning and from Thursday, June 26, until August, there will be one lane open in each direction 24/7 through contraflow roadworks. 

While the A14 is closed overnight, drivers will be diverted using a route between junction 58 (Seven Hills Interchange) and junction 55 (Copdock Interchange) via the A12 and A1214, and vice versa. 

From June 26 until August, the westbound entry slip road onto the A14 at junction 57 (Nacton Interchange) will be closed. This aims to reduce congestion caused by joining traffic merging onto the A14 as all traffic approaches the contraflow. Drivers wishing to join the A14 westbound will be diverted east to join the A14 westbound at junction 58 (Seven Hills Interchange).   

A reduced speed limit will apply in both directions from the morning of June 21. 

Nisar Ahmad, the project manager at National Highways, said that the A14 will still be the best route and added: “But please allow more time for journeys.”