A Crowland road has been closed for the foreseeable future after it was found to be more unsafe than first thought.
Last week Lincolnshire County Council announced 24/7 road closure has been put in place on Spalding Road in Crowland, between James Road and Queens Bank.
The council now say that the damage is ‘more extensive’ than first thought.
A spokesman for Lincolnshire County Council said today (Tuesday, September 9): “During preliminary works, the drought damage to sections of Spalding Road in Crowland was found to be more extensive than initial investigations suggested.
“A hard closure has now been installed and works to the affected road sections have been stopped as they would not make the surface sufficiently safe for road users.
“This closure will remain in place subject to a full detailed investigation that will assess the scale, risks and costs for repairing the drought damage and bringing this road back into use.
“Temporary repairs on other parts of the road have been completed, maintaining access for local residents and farmers.”
A signed diversion route is in place via James Road/A16 Crowland Bypass/A1175/Barrier Bank, and vice versa.
Last week, Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways, said the council had oped to reopen the road ‘in the coming weeks.
“Our investigations have found that the cause of the subsidence and cracking here is the result of drought damage and underground movement that’s been caused by a sustained period of dry weather – a pattern we are seeing cause similar issues elsewhere in the county,” she said in the initial announcement of the road closure.
“Our local highways team is currently working with our maintenance contractor Balfour Beatty about getting temporary repairs carried out in the coming days, with a view to getting the road re-opened as soon as it’s safe to do so.
“In the meantime, we ask that anyone travelling in the area understand the importance of this road closure since the cracks and voids that have formed here are not safe to drive over and could cause harm and/or damage.
“In the meantime, I want to thank anyone affected for their patience.”
