EDP 24^th May 2017

How to beat the Bank Holiday jams between King’s Lynn and Hunstanton

 

If it’s as hot as they’re forecasting it will be, one thing’s as sure as sunburn this weekend.

 

For as thousands flock to the coast for the Bank Holiday break, there’ll be jams at all the usual bottlenecks.
 
Some of the worst black spots are in West Norfolk. All roads lead to King’s Lynn from a sizeable chunk of the north, Midlands and south.
 
The A17, A47 and A10 meet up on the town’s southern outskirts – where queues soon start backing up from the Hardwick and Pullover roundabouts.
 
So how do you beat the gridlock?

Set off early. Aim to arrive before the rest of the herd set off for the seaside and you’ll sail through and be on the coast road before you can say sandcastle.
 
Alternatively, switch off that SatNav and go analogue. Dig out a decent map and you’ll find some of the little-known alternative routes the locals use to avoid the jams.
 
You’ll get to sample some of our lovely countryside too, but take care as some of our country roads are a little rustic, with farm traffic and cyclists.
 
How about coming home?

Whether you’re up for a day trip or on the last day of a short break, avoid the Hunny trap. That’s when everyone seems to decide to go home from Wells, Brancaster Beach, Hunstanton, Heacham or Snettisham at the same time.
 
Locals call it the Five O’Clock Madness, when traffic on the A149 between Hunstanton and King’s Lynn grinds to a 10mph crawl. Great way to end your day out, not.
 
Set off at 4pm and you might miss the worst of it. Might, being the operative word. So how about staying an hour or two longer? Try dinner in a seafront cafe or pub, stay on to watch the sunset.
 
Leave the return journey until early evening and the traffic will have thinned out noticeably.

 

 

EDP 10^th April 2017

A149 coast road between Hunstanton and King’s Lynn was gridlocked as sunseekers flocked to the beach

But last night drivers took hours to travel the 20 miles or so as the coast road ground to a standstill.
 
Traffic was queued from Lynn back along Hunstanton’s Cromer Road, past the Glebe House School, with drivers reduced to a crawl.
 
Earlier, unseasonal warm weather brought sunseekers flocking to the coast in droves.
 
But as the mercury topped 20°C and the car parks filled up at Holkham and Wells, it was only ever going to have one outcome, when all the day trippers headed for home.
 
By the early evening, @suffolknorfolktravel reported that there were “severe delays” on the A149 at Hunstanton and Castle Rising, on the outskirts of Lynn.
 
A few miles away on the Dersingham by-pass, where the limit is 60mph, speeds were down to 10mph. Jams lasted well into the evening.