Shops and cafes in Plumstead Road say business has only just started to pick up again after being hit by Kett’s Hill closures, which ended this month.
But now Norfolk County Council has confirmed that 32 weeks of major disruption will start at the Heartsease roundabout on Monday, September 11.
Work costing £4.4m will see one of the city’s busiest roundabouts revamped in an attempt to make it safer and easier to navigate.
But the plans are not proving popular with everyone, with nearby businesses saying they are fed up with having to redirect their customers around constant roadworks.
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Anne Martin, whose family has owned Great Eastern Models for more than 36 years, said road closures in the area always result in a downturn in trade as customers simply take their business online.
She said: “People who are into model railways come to us because we are a specialist and a large amount of our customers are elderly.
“When there’s a road closure they have their way of getting here which they can’t do any more, so they just don’t come. We’ve only just got over that with Kett’s Hill, where we did a lot of mail orders to make up for it.
“I don’t like to complain, but it’s going to be a nightmare.
“We always want better road safety and improvements, but I don’t really know why it’s needed, eight months is a long while.
“It will mess up Christmas trade.”
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Further down the road, Mathew Middleton, manager of Richardson’s DIY shop, is also concerned about the works.
He said: “This will definitely have an impact, I don’t care what anyone says, they always do, takings were low last time.
“When Kett’s Hill was closed it took one chap an hour to get here from the city centre.
“Eight months is ridiculous, in Dubai they’d have it done overnight, do they even know what they are doing?
“In my experience the council workers are always on a tea break or having lunch, so perhaps the cafes will do well.”
But Indrit Seidaj at Cafe 193 said he felt even his business would still suffer despite tea-thirsty workers.
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He said: “It’s going to affect us all at the same time, but hopefully because there are a lot of businesses here, people will still come.
“We’ll still have a lot of trade I think, because a lot of customers live around here and walk.
“I guess we’ll just have to wait and see what happens.”
Aaron Zan, who works at world food shop Family Food Store said things were bad enough with rising costs causing havoc.
He said: “At the moment we can’t afford the bills and rent so this is going to affect us a lot.
“When Kett’s Hill closed it had a massive impact for more than two months, how are delivery drivers going to get here?”
Nearby homes were also dreading the works saying the road was bad enough.
Eugene, who lives in Plumstead Road, said: “Just look at it, the traffic is bad enough as it is, can you imagine what it’s going to be like?
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“This is going to be a nightmare.”
Others living in the street said they often had to wait a long time to pull out of their driveway, adding they could see that time doubling once work began.
Concerns were also raised about the safety of new crossings being installed, with one homeowner saying they may make children think they are “invincible” while walking on them.
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