Leiston's B1122 level crossing reopens on Monday 21 September after eight weeks shut. The footpath closes 10am to 2pm on Friday, with a minibus shuttle.

Leiston’s level crossing reopens to traffic on Monday morning, ending a closure of the B1122 that has run around the clock since 27 July. That is close to eight weeks on the road through the middle of the town.

Before it reopens, one more closure gets in the way, and this one is for people on foot. Sizewell C’s works tracker says the pedestrian footpath across the crossing shuts between 10am and 2pm on Friday 18 September while the railway track is re-laid. A minibus shuttle will run during those four hours to carry people across.

The dates

Date What happens
27 July 2026 Crossing closes to vehicles, 24 hours a day
7 August 2026 Closure extended by up to three weeks, to 20 September
Fri 18 September, 10am to 2pm Footpath closed, minibus shuttle runs
Mon 21 September Crossing reopens to vehicles

The reopening date comes from two sources that agree. The tracker’s notice of 15 September says the crossing “is scheduled to reopen to vehicles on Monday morning”. Its weekly bulletin of 11 September lists the closure as running “from 27 July to 20 September”. The Monday after that is 21 September.

Leiston level crossing closure, key dates Timeline of the Leiston level crossing closure. The crossing closed to vehicles around the clock on 27 July 2026. On 7 August the closure was extended by up to three weeks to 20 September after a water pipe was found in the wrong place. On Friday 18 September the pedestrian footpath closes from 10am to 2pm while the track is re-laid, with a minibus shuttle. The crossing reopens to vehicles on Monday 21 September. Eight weeks shut, and one last four-hour closure on foot B1122 at the Leiston level crossing. Source: Sizewell C works tracker, 7 August, 11 and 15 September 2026. 27 July closed to vehicles 7 August extended up to three weeks Fri 18 Sept footpath shut 10am to 2pm, shuttle runs Mon 21 Sept reopens to vehicles Pedestrian access was maintained throughout the vehicle closure, apart from the four hours on 18 September. Graphic by Suffolk Coast News.
Graphic by Suffolk Coast News, from the Sizewell C works tracker notices of 7 August, 11 and 15 September 2026.

Why it ran three weeks over

The crossing was not meant to be shut this long. On 7 August the works tracker said the closure had to be extended “for up to a further three weeks”, to 20 September, and gave the reason plainly:

This extension is required because, when the works began, a water pipe was found to be in a different location from that shown on the available drawings and plans from when the pipes were previously installed.

The same notice apologised for the disruption to “residents, businesses and people travelling through Leiston”.

Which road, exactly

The tracker names the road two different ways, and both are right. The B1122 changes name at the crossing: it is Abbey Road on one side and Station Road on the other. The August notice called it Station Road. The weekly bulletin calls it Abbey Road.

The eastern end of Westward Ho has also been shut for about 80 metres from its junction with Abbey Road. The signed diversion has been the B1122, A12, A1094, B1069 and back onto the B1122.

What is still shut around Leiston

The crossing reopening does not clear the town. From the 11 September bulletin:

  • George Road: closed until September 2028, for the Sizewell Link Road
  • Pretty Road: closed until Q3 2027, while an overbridge is built
  • Hawthorn Road: closed until 30 April 2027, for the link road
  • B1122 weekend closures between Potters Street and Rowley Mews, plus Eastbridge Road and Lovers Lane, targeted for 8pm Friday 25 September to 5am Monday 28 September and 8pm Friday 2 October to 5am Monday 5 October
  • B1122 north of the town, from Yoxford roundabout, closed Monday to Thursday nights from 21 September to 6 November
  • 30mph limits on Buckleswood Road and Westward Ho while the Green Rail Route is built, and on the B1122, Lovers Lane and Sizewell Gap

Sizewell C also says it is cleaning the highway between the B1122 and Eastbridge under temporary traffic management during the weeks of 14 and 21 September.

What it means for you

  • If you drive through Leiston, plan for the diversion until Monday, then check before you set off on the 25 and 26 September weekend, when the B1122 is due to shut again nearby.
  • If you walk across the crossing, Friday between 10am and 2pm is the one window it is not available. A minibus will take you across.
  • If you are on the school run or a delivery round, the reopening is “Monday morning” rather than a stated time, so treat Monday as the earliest.
  • Everything live on the wider network is on our Suffolk roadworks and travel page, which we update through the week.

The crossing sits on the same branch line that carried Sizewell C’s first commercial freight train on 8 September. Re-laying the track across the road is part of the same programme.

Sources