Rasen and Caistor area roads could receive safety investment

Improvements could be made to the A631 near Market Rasen if a funding bid is successful

The highways department of the Lincolnshire County Council has revealed to the Market Rasen Mail that they are looking to submit the bid in the autumn - after the LCC puts the work in to ‘develop schemes that will improve safety’ at the chosen stretches of road.

The money will come from ashare of £175 million Government funding which has been allocated to the East Midlands to improve road safety. The Lincolnshire County Council’s highways department is looking to develop schemes to improve safety on three stretches of road in the Market Rasen area, which were selected by the Department for Transport based on accident data.

Roads earmarked include a five kilometre section of the A631 from Bishopbridge to Market Rasen, and a 22km stretch of the same road from Market Rasen to Louth.

On top of this, a 15km stretch of the A1084 between Brigg and Caistor in North Lincolnshire will also be repaired.

When approached for comment, the Lincolnshire County Council’s Highways department was unable to give an indication of exactly how much money would be spent on the three stretches of road.

In a statement, Councillor Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways told the Market Rasen Mail that this was because “things are only in the very early stages”.

Coun Davies said: “These three sections of road were selected by the Department for Transport based on accident data from the Road Safety Foundation. The Government has only recently released the initial details of how the programme will work, so things are only in the very early stages.

“First, we’ll have to develop schemes that will improve safety at these locations, and then we’ll need to bid for a share of the funding pot to carry out the work. We’re aiming to submit our bid in the autumn.”

Last week, we received comments from our readers about traffic in Market Rasen, with some concerned that it left the town ‘clogged up’.

The majority of people who got in touch with the Mail felt a one-way system was not the answer to the town’s traffic issues - LCC’s highways department stated that a one-way system ‘would be overall of little benefit to traffic circulation within the town’.

*Do you agree with where the money is being invested? Do you think there should be investment into easing congestion in Market Rasen itself? Have your say by emailing us at [email protected] or via Facebook.