Residents seeing red over town traffic jams

Horncastle's mayor has backed calls from residents for Highways chiefs at Lincolnsire County Council to finally find a solution to nightmare jams on Boston Road.
The waiting game: Residents claim queues on the A153 (Boston Road) often stretch back to the Industrial EstateThe waiting game: Residents claim queues on the A153 (Boston Road) often stretch back to the Industrial Estate
The waiting game: Residents claim queues on the A153 (Boston Road) often stretch back to the Industrial Estate

The News has been inundated with complaints about long tailbacks on Boston Road (A153) with people blaming a change in the sequence of traffic lights at the junction with Jubilee Way (A158).

Peter Welsh summed up the anger and frustration when he said it was quicker to walk into town than ‘tackle the daily misery’ of Boston Road.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Many residents say delays have increased recently with the traffic lights allowing more vehicles to pass through on the A158 to the coast - leading to heavy build ups on the A153.

Mr Welsh said: “We live at the bottom end of Boston Road and it is a complete nightmare trying to get into town.

“The lights let half a dozen people through from the A153 while there’s three or four minutes for the A158 - even when there’s no queue.”

The County Council says the junction of the A153 and A158 is the third busiest in the county and is working at ‘120 per cent capacity’- particularly at weekends.

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Coun Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways, said: “The lights at the Boston Road junction have never run to set timings.

“In fact, the equipment constantly monitors the levels of traffic on the approach routes and calculates an appropriate amount of green light time for each, to keep things flowing as best as possible.

“That does mean that the timings will vary depending on the level of traffic on the various routes, albeit within a limited range.

“We realise congestion is an issue, particularly during the tourist season, which is why we are looking at the potential for a new bypass as part of our work around the coastal highway.”

Hide Ad
Hide Ad

Town mayor Coun Brian Burbidge said: “I am somewhat skeptical regarding how this works as on many occasions with the traffic on the A153 at a standstill and queueing, the A158 can be empty or have very minimal traffic at the junction.

“Perhaps an officer from highways would like to visit us and explain or even stand at the junction and see the effect.”

Coun Burbidge said all lights at the junction were sometimes at red to allow pedestrains to cross and added: “I realise this is a safety approach but is there not a better solution?”