The 7 mile (11.3 km) £5 million part-dual-carriageway East Dereham Bypass built on part of the disused railway line was opened in spring 1978 followed by a five-mile (8 km) part-dual-carriageway Swaffham Bypass, costing £5 million which was opened in June 1981.

[8][9] In 2002 the government announced a new road building programme[10] which included the three mile (4.8 km) dual-carriageway Thorney bypass which opened on 14 December 2005.

[12] The improvement of the Acle Straight has become a point of contention between interested parties due to its passage through the Norfolk Broads, an area of important ecological and conservation significance that limits development.

The study which recommended widening rather than dualling of the Acle Straight was opposed by the Broadland District Council, Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Norfolk Police Authority and the majority of local respondents who believed that dualling of the road is necessary to improve road safety, decrease journey time and support the economic development of Great Yarmouth.

Dualling was however strongly opposed by the Environment Agency, the Council for National Parks (CNP) and the Broads Authority due to its impact on biodiversity and internationally important wildlife sites.

It was priority scheme for Norfolk County Council and it attracted strong opposition both locally and from environmental groups.

[17] Although a Development Consent Order (DCO) was granted in 2022,[18][19] both schemes were subject to legal challenge which have since been dismissed.

[22] In 2012 Norfolk County Council launched the strategic route prospectus which detailed improvement schemes along the A47 between Peterborough and King's Lynn.

The sections of the road to be dualled were the Acle straight, Blofield to Burlingham, North Tuddenham to Easton and the East Winch/Middleton bypass.

On 8 October 2012 it was the announced that improvements to the A1/A47 junction at Wansford and the roundabout at Honingham would be approved for pinch point funding.

Leaving Nuneaton, it passes the North Warwickshire and South Leicestershire College, meets the A4254 at a roundabout and the A5 Watling Street near the Longshoot Hotel.

[citation needed] This section passes through a large industrial estate and close to a Tesco distribution centre, crossing the Ashby-de-la-Zouch Canal.

The two-mile £2.5 million three-lane Billesdon Bypass opened in October 1986, passing north of the village, with staggered crossroads.

It meets the B6047 north-south Market Harborough to Melton Mowbray road (for Tilton on the Hill) at staggered crossroads at the highest point of the A47, at around 670 feet.

It passes through Skeffington with a right turn for Rolleston then heads through Tugby, which is traversed by the Midshires Way and National Cycle Route 63.

The road improvement took a less-crooked route closer to the village, with a less steep incline avoiding the top of Wardley Hill.

From Shire Oaks (Coppice Leys) through Tixover, the road has been straightened, and to the right is the Welland Valley (Rutland – Northamptonshire boundary).

The road towards Wittering Lodge has been straightened, and crosses the City of Peterborough boundary (former Northamptonshire, then Cambridgeshire).

At Toll Bar Cottage, there is a left turn for Wittering, opposite Bedford Purlieus National Nature Reserve.

It passes the Total Wisbech Services and then meets the old route (B198) at a roundabout and becomes the 6-mile (9.7 km) £23 million dual-carriageway Walpole Highway/Tilney High End Bypass which opened in summer 1996.

Construction of the King's Lynn southern bypass, built by W. & C. French[28] at a cost of £3,733,000, began on 5 April 1972[29] and was completed in 1975.

The half-mile Narborough Bypass, opened in November 1992, where the road crosses the River Nar and enters the district of Breckland.

There is a straight section to where it meets the A1122 (for RAF Marham) at a roundabout at the start of the five-mile part-dual-carriageway Swaffham Bypass, which opened in June 1981.

The seven-mile £5 million part-dual-carriageway East Dereham Bypass opened in spring 1978, which was built on part of the disused railway line.

It becomes single carriageway and passes North Burlingham near the staggered White House crossroads with the B1140.

The three-mile £7.1 million dual-carriageway Acle Bypass opened in March 1989, which ends at a roundabout with the A1048 near a Travelodge, becoming the single carriageway New Road.

The route continues South, meeting with the Harfrey's Roundabout, which connects the A47 to Great Yarmouth's Herring Bridge.

After this, a small section of the A47 runs south past the regions main A&E, the James Paget University Hospital.

Approx 5.5 KM of dual carriageway then takes the A47 to North Lowestoft, which connects the A47 to the coastal villages of Hopton and Corton via 3 roundabouts.

The secondary A47 branches through the centre of the town, passing Lowestoft Railway Station and meeting the main A47 by the docks just before the bridge.