An ongoing consultation over the £121m third river crossing for Great Yarmouth has seen about 100 people respond to it so far, Norfolk County Council has said.

The council launched its seven week long consultation on Monday, 20 August, and so far it has seen three public events held in the town allowing people to give their views on the crossing, which could be open to traffic by 2023.

The consultation is part of a planning process which is seeing the council making a Development Consent Order to the Planning Inspectorate to consider. If approved the transport minister would then make the final decision.

The consultation is likely to be the last to be held over the scheme.

Martin Wilby, chairman of Norfolk County Council’s environment, development and transport committee, said: “We expect the third river crossing to make a big difference to the way people get around Yarmouth, reducing traffic congestion, shortening journey times and helping to attract investment and create jobs in the town.

“We’re on schedule to start work on the bridge in late 2020 and expect it to be open and available for use by early 2023.

“However we have some important stages to get through before we can start building it, and getting people’s opinions on what we’re proposing is one of these stages.

“So please spare a bit of time to have a look at our designs and information and let us know what you think before the consultation closes early next month.”

The new crossing would see it linking the A47 at Harfreys Roundabout on the western side of the river to South Denes Road on the east in 2023.

The government has provided £98m towards the major transport infastracture improvement project, which is led by the county council.

Norfolk County Council staff will be at the Maritime Festival both days this weekend telling people about the third river crossing, displaying fly-through videos of how the bridge could look and encouraging people to respond to the consultation.

A further consultation event will be held on Wednesday, September 12 from 10am to 8pm at the Kings Centre on Queen Anne’s Road, Southtown, where people can see the proposals in full, ask staff any questions they have and respond to the consultation in person.

People can also view the proposals for the new bridge and respond to the consultation online at www.norfolk.gov.uk/3rc. The consultation closes at midnight on Friday, 5 October.