A road in the city's outskirts WILL remain open as major gasworks are carried out for two months after concerns were raised.
Locals have welcomed the decision to implement two-way traffic lights in West End, Costessey, after initial plans to close the route prompted worries about diversions causing "absolute gridlock" in the surrounding area.
The road was set to be shut from the junction with Longwater Lane to Brickfield Loke from February 19 until April 30.
But gas company Cadent - which is carrying out a mains replacement project at the site - has confirmed the road will instead remain open, with parts only closing temporarily if a health and safety issue arises.
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Stuart Clancy, who represents Taverham at Norfolk County Council, had pushed for traffic lights to avoid the traffic problems in the surrounding villages.
"Full closure was unacceptable," the Conservative councillor said.
"All the traffic would be diverted through areas like Ringland, Costessey and Taverham.
"Traffic would have been dreadful and it would have been absolute gridlock.
"This is another argument for the Western Link.
"Traffic lights aren't an ideal solution but these works need to be carried out and this is better than closing the whole road."
The works were initially scheduled to begin in January and run until March 15, but this was postponed to allow the weather to improve.
A spokesman for Cadent said: “The work planned for West End, Taverham, is a mains replacement project which will see old metallic piping being removed and replaced with tough new pipes which will last for decades, futureproofing the network.
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"Our engineers have been to the location this week and we are pleased to say that after investigations were carried out, we will be able to complete the majority of our work and keep traffic flowing with the use of two-way traffic lights.
"There is the possibility that parts of the road may need to be closed, but this will be purely for operational reasons and to keep everyone safe.
"If we do need to close part of the road then we will do this at the very end, giving residents plenty of notice."
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