A1117

Route

The A1117 forms the Lowestoft bypass, with the A12 running into the town centre to meet the A47 from Great Yarmouth.

The road starts at a roundabout in the Pakefield area of town, where it turns off the A12 to run through the suburbs. There are occasional roundabouts to serve urban estates, with the road itself intermittently lined with houses.

Presently a set of traffic lights is reached. To the left is the A146 whilst the A1117 TOTSOs right to run through the suburb of Oulton Broad. We go over the Ipswich to Lowestoft line by Oulton Broad South station, then run north parallel to the railway line. The B1531 (former A146) turns off right at a roundabout to run into Lowestoft, whilst we continue ahead to cross a bascule bridge over the channel to the east of Oulton Broad lake. The railway swing bridge is clearly visible just to the right. We're actually in the Norfolk Broads National Park for a short distance here.

A1117 at the junction of Millennium Way and Grasmere Drive, Oulton

After leaving the National Park we cross a level crossing by Oulton Broad North station on the Norwich to Lowestoft line before bearing right at a roundabout. There's a short semi-rural section as we pass through a park before we turn left at the next roundabout to head north once more. We pass between Oulton and Lowestoft proper and have the air of a bypass, although we become lined with houses again after turning right at a roundabout in Parkhill. We zigzag a bit to meet the A47 (former A12), ending on that road at another roundabout.

History

The original route of the A1117

The A1117 number came into existence in the early 1930s as an upgrade of the B1129, which ran from the A146 in Oulton Broad via Oulton to the A12 east of Blundeston. Much later, the road was extended to the south via a multiplex along the A146 to rejoin the A12 and provide Lowestoft with a bypass.

More recently, the A1117 has been rerouted to bypass Oulton. The old road through the village is now the B1375, whilst the A1117 has taken on the original western end of the B1130 then new-build to the north. The multiplex with the A146 has also disappeared as that road now starts on the A1117 in Oulton Broad.