Wymondham roadworks: A11 shut 18-21 September

Wymondham’s road network is simple and therefore fragile. One dual carriageway, the A11, does almost all the work: north-east to Thickthorn and Norwich, south-west to Attleborough, Thetford, Newmarket and the M11. When the A11 stops, the alternatives are single-carriageway B-roads through villages, and everybody finds that out at the same time.

This page covers what is actually closed and when, then the parts that do not change: the car parks and their charges, the park and ride, and where to check before you set off.

The one to diary: the A11 weekend closure

The A11 will be closed in both directions between Thickthorn junction and Wymondham from 8pm on Friday 18 September 2026, reopening at 6am on Monday 21 September. National Highways is lifting a bridge deck into place over the road with large cranes, which cannot be done under lane closures.

That is a full weekend without the town’s main road to Norwich. If you are planning anything that weekend, a hospital appointment at the N&N, an airport run, a wedding, plan it around a diversion rather than assume you will slip through.

The bridge belongs to the A47 Thickthorn junction scheme, which is the biggest piece of road building this district has seen in years:

• Cost: £216m to £239m. Construction started in the third quarter of the 2025/26 financial year and is due to finish in 2028/29.
• What is being built: two new underpasses, one beneath the A11 and one beneath the A47, carrying a 1.6km free-flow link road from the A11 northbound to the A47 eastbound, so that traffic no longer has to use the roundabout.
• Plus a local link: a roughly 1km Cantley Lane link road joining Cantley Lane South to the B1172 Norwich Road, a widened section of roundabout, new traffic signals, and a new footbridge for pedestrians, cyclists and horse riders.
• The point of it: National Highways expects the scheme to remove around 12,000 vehicles a day from the Thickthorn roundabout.

Expect more overnight A47 and A11 closures around Thickthorn between now and 2029. National Highways publishes them a week at a time.

Also live: A11 resurfacing south of the town

Separately, National Highways is reconstructing the A11 carriageway between Thetford and Attleborough, about eight miles south-west of Wymondham. The work runs under overnight full closures, generally 8pm to 6am, with the southbound stretch from Besthorpe Interchange to London Road Roundabout among those listed in the current seven-day closure report.

Further down the same road in Cambridgeshire, the A11 southbound between Balsham Road and Worsted Lodge is closing overnight on consecutive nights for the same kind of carriageway renewal. That one matters if you drive to Cambridge or the M11.

Both are night works, so they hit late travel and early starts rather than the commute.

Parking in Wymondham

South Norfolk Council runs four car parks in the town, 249 spaces between them. Charges apply 08:00 to 18:00, Monday to Saturday, excluding bank holidays, and the first hour is free in all four.

The practical rule: if you are staying more than four hours, you must use Cemetery Lane or Town Green, because the two short-stay car parks enforce a four-hour maximum. Cemetery Lane also allows a stay of up to five days, and if you use its check-in check-out facility the machine reserves £20 on your card against a failure to check out.

There are on-street disabled bays at Fairland Hill and Market Place, and off-street accessible bays in all four car parks except Market Street, which has two off-street and two on-street single bays.

An annual permit for all the pay and display car parks in Diss, Wymondham and Loddon costs £380, and to qualify for a resident’s permit you must have no parking at your own address and live within 500 metres of the car park.

Parking tickets in South Norfolk are handled by the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk on the district’s behalf, which catches people out.

Park and ride for Norwich

For anything in Norwich city centre, Thickthorn Park and Ride is the obvious answer from Wymondham: it sits at the far end of the A11, at the junction now being rebuilt.

• 726 spaces, including 21 disabled and 18 family bays. Parking is free; you pay only the bus fare.
• Service PR1, up to every 14 minutes, and as little as 17 minutes to Castle Meadow.
• First bus 05:57 on weekdays, 06:40 on Saturdays, 08:30 on Sundays. Last bus back to the site 20:14 on weekdays and Saturdays.
• Fares: adult day £3, young person aged 5 to 19 and concession £2, two people £4, and a group of up to five £5, all for unlimited journeys that day.

A group of five travelling in for the day pays £5 in total and parks for nothing. That compares well with over four hours in a Norwich city centre car park, and it is the single most useful travel fact in this district.

The routes that matter

• A11 north-east: Wymondham to Thickthorn and the A47, then Norwich. This is the road everything depends on, and the one being rebuilt at its far end until 2029.
• A11 south-west: Attleborough, Thetford, Newmarket and the M11 for Cambridge and London.
• B1172: the old Norwich road through Hethersett and Cringleford, and the standard diversion when the A11 closes. It is single carriageway through villages and it does not have the capacity.
• B1135: east towards Bracon Ash and Mulbarton, or west towards Dereham.
• A140: the Norwich to Ipswich road, reached across country, and the route to Long Stratton and Diss.

One piece of good news on that last route: the Long Stratton bypass opened to traffic on 11 August 2025, taking the A140 around the east side of the town for about 2.4 miles between the new Church Lane roundabout and Oakside farm. It is a Norfolk County Council scheme, built by Octavius, costed at £46.9m and funded 70% by the Department for Transport’s Major Road Network Fund and 30% locally, including £14.5m through the Greater Norwich Growth Board.

Where to check before you travel

• one.network is the live roadworks map that Norfolk County Council and the utilities feed. Search on Wymondham and it will show current and planned street works, including the small ones this page will never list.
• National Highways live travel updates for the A11 and A47, which are trunk roads and therefore not the county council’s.
• The National Highways road closure report publishes a seven-day list of planned full closures as a spreadsheet, updated twice daily on working days. It is the source for the A11 overnight closures above.
• The A47 Thickthorn junction scheme page for the September weekend closure and everything that follows it.

Frequently asked questions

When is the A11 closed between Wymondham and Norwich?

From 8pm on Friday 18 September 2026 until 6am on Monday 21 September, in both directions between Thickthorn junction and Wymondham, for a bridge installation on the Thickthorn scheme. Shorter overnight closures around Thickthorn will continue through the works.

Is parking free in Wymondham?

The first hour is free in all four council car parks, and after that you pay: £1 for two hours, £2 for three. Charges apply 08:00 to 18:00 Monday to Saturday only, so parking is free on Sundays, bank holidays and overnight.

Which Wymondham car park can I leave a car in all day?

Cemetery Lane (90 spaces) or Town Green (51 spaces), the two long-stay car parks, at £4 for over four hours. Market Street and Back Lane are short stay with a four-hour maximum.

How much is Thickthorn Park and Ride?

£3 for an adult day ticket, £2 for a young person or concession, £4 for two people and £5 for a group of up to five. Parking at the site is free. The PR1 runs up to every 14 minutes and takes about 17 minutes to Castle Meadow.

How long is the A47 Thickthorn scheme going to take?

Construction started in the third quarter of 2025/26 and is due to complete in 2028/29. It is costed at £216m to £239m.

Sources

• National Highways, A47 Thickthorn junction near Norwich for the 18 to 21 September closure, scheme cost, timescale and what is being built, checked 9 August 2026.
• National Highways road closure report and its seven-day closure spreadsheet, last updated 7 August 2026, for the A11 overnight closures between Thetford and Attleborough and at Balsham Road.
• Broadland and South Norfolk car park listings for spaces, charges, restrictions and accessible bays at all four Wymondham car parks.
• South Norfolk car park permits for the £380 annual permit and the resident eligibility rule.
• First Bus, Thickthorn Park and Ride for spaces, fares, frequency and first and last buses.
• Norfolk County Council, Long Stratton Bypass opens to traffic, published 11 August 2025, for the opening date and scheme details, and the council’s Long Stratton Bypass project page for the route, cost and funding split.

Roadworks change at short notice and closures are regularly cancelled or moved. Check one.network and National Highways on the day before you rely on any of this.