The South Denes loop road, Great Yarmouth, will close to the public soon after Christmas as the EastPort outer harbour prepares to become fully operational.

South Beach Parade, on the sea front, and South Denes Road, on the river, will be closed and gated. On South Beach Parade the new gates on to the EastPort site will be 50metres south of the junction with Hartmann Road. For non-port traffic, vehicles heading south along South Beach Parade will be directed to turn right on to Hartmann Road, which connects with South Denes Road. South Denes Road will be gated close to the river mouth. A new turning area will allow non-port traffic to turn without difficulty.

Altogether just over 1km of highway is being closed to general traffic and incorporated into the port. This closure, which formed part of the outer harbour development plan from the outset of the final design process, will allow EastPort's outer harbour and river port to operate as one.

Eddie Freeman, EastPort's Chief Executive Officer, said the road had been kept open for as long as possible during the construction of the outer harbour. "The construction phase is coming to an end and from the end of this month it is important that the outer harbour and the river port can operate efficiently, securely and safely as a single entity. This would simply not have been possible if the road had stayed open to general traffic."

The date and timing of the closure will depend up the completion of work on the gates and the installation of road signs.