Sustainable transport and regeneration scheme (STARS)
In August 2022, we submitted a £24.1m bid to the Government's Levelling Up Fund. This funding would go towards the £26.8m King's Lynn Sustainable Transport and Regeneration Scheme (STARS).
In January 2023, the Government confirmed our bid was successful, subject to further approvals. Schemes above £20m need further approvals. They said we'd submitted a strong application and that it performed well against the assessment criteria. They also liked our proposals.
Working with Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk, this STARS project will:
- Transform the historic Southgates area
- Improve the outdated gyratory road system
It will focus on improving bus and active travel, benefitting the environment and people's health. It will aim to improve the public area by reducing the dominance of traffic.
By helping buses, pedestrians, and cyclists, we can improve road safety and air quality.
This project is part of the Borough Council's Southgates masterplan which aims to improve this key entrance into King's Lynn.
There was a public consultation on the masterplan in October 2022. This allowed people who live and work in King's Lynn to have their say. This feedback will feed into the masterplan. The Borough Council will then use it as a development brief document to guide investment in the area.
The masterplan ideas are not set - there is room for improvements. The recommended changes are also subject to getting funding.
Read our successful Levelling Up bid press release for more about the Southgate masterplan and how the STARS project supports it.
An artist's impression of the concepts
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An artist's impression of the suggested changes to the Southgates area. This web page text tells you the plans in detail.
Artist impression of changes to Southgates area
STARS Southgates plan
The scheme will reduce the impact of traffic by making the Southgates roundabout into a junction. This junction will have bus priority and better facilities for cyclists and pedestrians.
The STARS Southgates plans will:
- Include bus priority measures
- Have new cycle/pedestrian routes
- Have new space with views to the South Gate and the bridge
- Have a public space that enhances the setting of the South Gate
- Have a South Gate view corridor towards the town
- Retain trees
These plans aim to make the Southgates area better by:
- Enhancing the setting as both a gateway and destination
- Improving how people get around the area through active travel
- Improving the area's appearance
- Giving it links to natural assets
- Changing the road layout to help us identify development sites that we can regenerate
- Having new developments that improve physical connections through the area
How your feedback has helped our plans:
- There was heritage concern about the loss of use of historic South Gate as a road entry point. The scheme has been devised to retain entry via the historic South Gate for pedestrians and cyclists. We will now protect this from the damaging frequent vehicle use.
- There was concern about catering for traffic flows with a downsized junction. The downsized junction will cater for current post-pandemic peak-hour traffic flows.
- Active travel aspirations were welcomed by cycle groups in recent stakeholder workshop
STARS gyratory plan
We will improve the gyratory system by transforming the public area on Railway Road. We'll introduce measures that will assist buses, pedestrians, and cyclists.
This will help improve the gyratory by:
- Reducing the dominance of traffic on Railway Road
- Reconnecting the two parts of Norfolk Street
- Improving air quality
- Improving pedestrian space as we move traffic lanes further away from buildings
How your feedback has helped our plans:
The first plan iteration was more focussed on the Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) measures. It had more extensive segregated cycle lanes on Railway Road. Members asked that we give more consideration to public transport. This is because there was concern that buses would get held up at junctions. We talked to bus operators to understand key pinch points. From here, we devised suitable measures. The scheme now has a better balance between bus priority and active travel measures.
Photographs of the existing situation
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Photo showing vehicles driving through the South Gate entrance into King’s Lynn. More information is available under heading STARS Southgate plan.
South Gate entry into King's Lynn
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