Five-year plan for major road improvements
£360M TO BE SPENT BY COUNTY COUNCIL INCLUDING WORK ON RELIEF ROADS AND ROUTES AROUND THE COAST
THE Lincolnshire road network will be receiving £360m improvements over the next five years, the county council says.
New infrastructure will be built and various improvements will be made to existing roads between now and 2028.
The projects will include new relief roads, ‘levelling up’ schemes for roundabouts and an overhaul of the coast.
Councillor Richard Davies, the executive member for highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said it was ‘all systems go’. The bulk will be spent on a five-mile relief road in North Hykeham, which is expected to cost between £180m and £208m.
Plans were formally submitted in October with a view to start work on the three-year project in 2025.
On top of a new stretch of dual carriageway, it will also involve the construction of three new roundabouts and four new bridges, including one over the River Witham.
Cllr Davies said it will improve journey times, better connect the A46 to the Humber ports, and form an ‘integral part’ of the route to the Lincolnshire coast.
In the east of the county, a £1.2 million project is currently under way in Skegness to improve coastal roads including North Parade, Grand Parade and Drummond Road.
The team is also working on replacing gullies along Lumley Avenue to improve the area’s drainage and resurfacing a section of Roman Bank.
Over in the south, work is wrapping up on widening Marsh Lane Roundabout as part of the ‘levelling up’ of the A16 between Boston and Spalding. Improvements to the A16 and A151 roundabout are also under way, ahead of the replacement of the A16/B110 Greencell Roundabout near Spalding beginning in summer 2024.
Cllr Davies added: “Not only do all of the Levelling Up changes offer immediate benefits, like improved journey times and less traffic, but they will also help future-proof the A16.”
In Grantham, work has begun on the final section of the relief road bridge over the Witham Valley, River Witham and east coast railway.
The new road opened in late 2022, connecting the A1 to the B1174, and the bridge is expected to be finished by 2025.
A SCHOOL for autistic children is set for expansion.
The news was published by Lincolnshire County Council in their “Public Notices” page at the back of the local papers last week.
A specialist primary school for children on the autistic spectrum is hoping to build new facilities at their school, close to St Peter & St Paul Church in Gosberton.
Gosberton House Academy has applied to construct a new building to provide classrooms, a suite of therapy spaces, soft play; sensory rooms and toilets and bathrooms; the removal and reinstatement of a wall for access and landscaping works.
The new teaching block, to the west of the site is intended to provide teaching and support space for the school.
It will comprise four classrooms; two for children with moderate or severe learning difficulties, and two for students with profound and multiple learning difficulties.
There will also be a hygiene suite with eight additional WCs, sensory and soft play, therapy and nursing areas, along with adjoining corridors and staff areas.
The academy is in the former grounds of Gosberton Hall, now known as Gosberton House Care Home.
Gosberton Hall and the boundary wall that extends along Westhorpe Road are Grade II listed and are located on the south-eastern boundary of the school, adjacent to the school buildings.
There are 11 heritage historical buildings within 500m of the school, including the grade-I listed Church of St Peter and St Paul and Gosberton Hall itself.
The site and some of the listed buildings referred to lie within the Gosberton Conservation Area defined since 1972, and buildings within it need to be approved by the planning authority.
Most concerning, perhaps, the applicants want to remove several mature trees with tree protection orders. They say they will offset this loss by providing replacement trees, but councillors will have the opportunity to add conditions to the planning permission.
Meanwhile, down in West Deeping, it seems like there’s about to be more gravel pits.
Mineral extraction company Cemex have applied to extend their existing quarry in King Street by slightly less than two hectares to the south east of their current gravel pits.
West Deeping Parish Council has strongly objected to the application.
In a comment on the planning application, Glenn Muller, the Chairman wrote that there has been quarrying in West Deeping for over 70 years now and seven of these have been for extensions to existing quarrying activities in the last seven years.
They believe that the plans will bring quarrying and heavy industry closer to the village for another 30 years or more.
Mr Muller said: “We implore you to take our health and lives seriously - that is your responsibility. Please bring an end to this destruction of our village piece by piece.
“It is time to look elsewhere for the county’s sand and gravel requirements.
“The cumulative detrimental impacts from this onslaught of mineral extraction on our community has been well surpassed.
“This continued planning creep and continued moving of the goalposts for our community has destroyed our trust in those that we elected to look after us “Enough is enough.” Addressing Lincolnshire’s planning committee, Mr Muller said that the council’s Minerals and Waste team and the quarry companies had “fooled them” into thinking there were no other options.”
Mr Muller urged the council to consider other options.
To see both planning applications, visit: www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/planning and search for PL/0088/23 (Gosberton House Academy) or PL/0083/23 (Gravel Pits).