Christmas queues for A47

Motorists are facing more misery in the run up to Christmas with more lane closures and delays. New lane closures will be put in place at the A47 Soke Parkway junction with the A15 Paston Parkway at Dogsthorpe next week. The new measures are part of the long running works which have caused gridlock over the autumn, with queues affecting the parkways and stretching back to Eye.

The roadworks started in June, and when completed will increase the number of lanes approaching and on the roundabout fromtwotothree in both directions.

The new section of the works, which will start on Monday, begins mid-way between junctions 18 (Lincoln Road/BourgesBoulevard) and 19 (Fulbridge Road) of the A47 Soke Parkway, to just past the junction 20 roundabout.

This will allow only a single lane of traffic travelling eastbound on this section of the Soke Parkway up until Christmas.

The junction 19 slip road on the eastbound carriageway onto the roundabout will be closed for the same period.

CouncillorPeterHiller, the city council’s cabinet member for growth, planning, housing and economic development, said: “We appreciate that the improvement work at junction 20 has caused some inconvenience and apologise foranyfurtherdisruptionthat these additional closures will cause. However, this will allow us to continue the worksafely and to schedule.

“Peterborough is going to experiencesignificantgrowth over the next 10 years, with numerous developments planned - including the Norwood development and Paston Reserve.”

The work is scheduled to finish in the spring of 2017. AFenland manwhohasn’t been seen for almost 10 years is likely to have died onthedayhedisappeared, a coroner has said. Butanopenverdictwasrecorded on how Terry McSpadden, whose body has never been found, died at the hearing in Norwich on Tuesday. The inquest was told that the last recorded sightingofMrMcSpadden, who was 24 at the time of his disappearance and living in Elm, had been at a Tesco supermarket in Wisbech at around 1am on March 2, 2007. The court heard that Mr M c S pad d e n’s m ob i l e phonewasusedinthedays following his disappearance, though it was not known who had done so. Speakingaftertheinquest, his mother, Helen Thrower, appealed for more information about what happened to Mr McSpadden and said: “If anyone knows anything, please, please tell somebody. “Weneedtoknow. Hischildrenneedtoknow. They’ve had 10 years without their dad and it’s so unfair.” Norfolk coroner Jacqueline Lake said a fresh hearing could beorderedifnew evidence came to light. In her conclusion, Mrs Lake said she was satisfied, on the balance of probabilities, that Mr McSpadden was dead and was likely to have died on March 2, 2007.

Traffic signs advertising the forthcoming closures