Key moments in improving traffic management in Spalding town centre are on the horizon.
The project will take a step forward with a feasibility study getting under way this autumn.
And that is also the time when the design for phase one of the £100m Spalding Western Relief Road (SWRR) is expected to be submitted for planning consideration by Lincolnshire County Council.
The two schemes being considered for the town centre are part-closure of Swan Street to traffic (probably the stretch between Station Approach and Winfrey Avenue) and the introduction of a mini roundabout at the junction of Winfrey Avenue and Kings Road.
The existing traffic lights in both areas would probably be removed.
Highways officers believe the two measures will make a significant difference to traffic flow.
The county council confirmed last week that a feasibility study to assess the benefits of both moves, together with options for funding them, is due to start in the autumn.
Meanwhile, the relief road scheme – to provide an alternative route for potential through town traffic and to unlock development potential – is also approaching a significant stage.
The county council’s highways and transport scrutiny committee has been told this summer: “Negotiations are under way in relation to the share of cost between LCC and the developer, through the use of an Memorandum Of Understanding.
“The SWRR is referred to in the draft South East Lincolnshire Local Plan with the main focus being on ‘Phase 2 North’. The north phase has a high level design and also awaits developer stimulus.”
The full length of the new road will run from Spalding Common to near the Enterprise Way junction with Spalding Road in Pinchbeck.
The south phase (Spalding Common to Bourne Road) is being front-funded by the county council, with substantial reimbursement by Weston Hills developer Broadgate Homes, which is building a further 2,250 homes in that area.
Three bridges will be constructed along the whole route of the road – two crossing the railway line and another over Vernatt’s Drain.
