“The longer we wait to build it, the more expensive it will get, so we need to build it now,” the councillor responsible for roads in Lincolnshire said of a relief road in the county last week.
However Coun Richard Davies was telling Lincolnshire County Council about the authority’s thoughts on the North Hykeham Relief Road not the Spalding Western Relief Road.
Indeed, his statement to the council on the Spalding Western Relief Road says that ‘the works are nearing completion’ and ‘expected to be completed in late Summer/early Autumn’.
There’s no mention at all of the other four sections of the roads which remain unfunded.
The Voice asked Lincolnshire County Council what Coun Davies’ comments on relief road costs meant for the Spalding project.
Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways, responded: “As announced last year, construction of the south section of the relief road isn’t expected to start until 2030 at the earliest unless external funding can be found. We are continuing to work closely with South Holland District Council to identify funding opportunities, including remaining in touch with Homes England.
“In addition, no funding has yet been allocated or secured for the middle sections of the relief road as these are intended to be built in the long-term, as outlined in the South East Lincolnshire Local Plan.”
Planning permission was granted for the southern section just over five years ago and the county council said it had done enough preparation work to not have to reapply for that.
Ms Cassar said that the northern section’s bridge, carriageway and footpaths will be completed in the next few weeks when work on removing the level crossing and haul road will take place. The final layer of road surfacing for the bridge will then be laid.
At the county council meeting Coun Davies expressed concern over a ‘lack of communication’ on roads funding while also saying that previous cuts to the Lincoln Eastern Bypass which meant it wasn’t built as a duel carriageway was ‘a mistake’.
“The best time to build a piece of infrastructure like this is yesterday, the second best is today,” he said of the North Hykeham road.
