David Kindred takes a look back at the building of the Ipswich bypass, including the Orwell Bridge, and the impact it’s had on the town.
Thirty years ago this month the western section of the Ipswich by-pass opened to traffic.
The section connecting the Claydon by-pass to the Copdock Mill interchange took traffic away from the Norwich Road and the 1930s built by-pass. Work on the western by-pass started in 1984.
The Orwell Bridge opened in December 1982, linking the Seven Hills and the Wherstead interchanges.
In this week’s Kindred Spirits I have found photographs showing how this massive engineering project to build Ipswich’s southern by-pass was completed. Huge areas of countryside were cut across and old routes changed forever.
Now, when the main by-pass is closed and traffic takes the old route through town, there are major traffic problems around Ipswich.
Did you work on the by-pass in the late 1970s and 80s, or remember the traffic in Ipswich before it was built? Let us know, send an email to David Kindred
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