A scheme to ease traffic congestion in Diss will not achieve its goal unless planners rethink part of it, the town council has warned.

Diss Mercury: Diss Station car park currently accessed only via Station Road but will soon be linked to Nelson Road. Picture: Simon ParkinDiss Station car park currently accessed only via Station Road but will soon be linked to Nelson Road. Picture: Simon Parkin (Image: Archant)

Funding for two schemes has been approved by Norfolk County Council in a bid to reduce congestion around Diss Station and improve traffic flow on the busy A1066.

The council last January announced it would be allocating £650,000 for improvements to the Vinces Road junction and £250,000 for a new link road connecting Station Road and Nelson Road.

The new link will connect Nelson Road to the railway station forecourt meaning drivers would not have to use the A1066 Victoria Road and make it much easier for public transport to serve Diss Station.

Diss Mercury: Nelson Road, currently a dead end, will be extended into a link road into Diss Station. Picture: Simon ParkinNelson Road, currently a dead end, will be extended into a link road into Diss Station. Picture: Simon Parkin (Image: Archant)

A meeting of Diss Town Council heard the plans had initially allowed traffic to both arrive and leave the station via Nelson Road. However the latest plans have suggested it will only be one way meaning motorists would still have to use congested Victoria Road.

Council leader Simon Olander said: "When it came back to us earlier this year we were made aware that the access arrangements had been changed. Obviously we were happy for the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to progress safeguarding the route in and out; but we are not 100pc convinced on the new access arrangements.

"One of the key goals of this project was to try to take traffic off the A1066. For anyone from the north of the town they could access via Nelson Road and not have to use the A1066 at all. But if we only have one-way traffic then we still have everything having to go on the A1066."

Diss Mercury: Keith Kiddie, county councillor for Diss and Roydon. Picture: Norfolk ConservativesKeith Kiddie, county councillor for Diss and Roydon. Picture: Norfolk Conservatives (Image: Norfolk Conservatives)

Mr Olander said the council was instead suggesting a 'give way' point that would allow vehicles to both enter and exit the station via Nelson Road.

"Our goal as a town council is to try to alleviate the congestion. By putting a simple 'give way' in we feel that is still deliverable," he said.

Diss county councillor Keith Kiddie said access arrangements, including the two-way option, will be part of a further feasibility study with Greater Anglia, funded by Norfolk County Council.

Diss Mercury: Nelson Road which will be extended into a link road seen from Diss Station. Picture: Simon ParkinNelson Road which will be extended into a link road seen from Diss Station. Picture: Simon Parkin (Image: Archant)

"The plans that have been put together are so we can get the buses to the station but at the moment it is an exit only plan," he said. "The feasibility study look at the entrances and exits, how the buses will work and also whether they build more parking spaces. The space is constrained with moving pedestrians and buses, so traffic movement is an issue."