A council says there’s no evidence diverting A16 traffic down a back road has led to that stretch now being closed indefinitely for safety reasons.
Lincolnshire County Council has announced Spalding Road, just outside of Crowland, will be closed for the foreseeable future because it’s more damaged than the authority thought.
It initially announced a closure between James Road and Queens Bank saying it would re-open ‘in the coming weeks’.
But a council spokesman this week said: “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.
Earlier this year Crowland Road was used as a diversion route for all traffic while resurfacing work was carried out on the A16 between Cowbit and Crowland from March to June.
The diversion was initially listed as going on the A151 and through Market Deeping and along the A15 outside of Peterborough.
But a month after the announcement the county council changed the diversion route. The authority said the change was necessary because the originally planned, much longer diversion was ‘not available due to reasons beyond our control’.
A county council spokesman said: “The damage caused to Spalding Road is the result of several dry periods earlier this year.
“The subsidence and cracking are consistent with other areas of the county that have been affected from drought damage and related underground movement.
“There is no evidence to suggest that diverted traffic has contributed to this issue.”
