Series of Lincolnshire roads could receive share of £152 million towards improvements

Improvements to the A15 and extra cash towards the incomplete Spalding Western Relief Road – which has been mothballed and labelled ‘the road to nowhere’ – are on a shopping list put forward for Mayor Andrea Jenkyns to approve.

Lincolnshire County Council (LCC) will submit the business cases to the Greater Lincolnshire Combined County Authority (GLCCA) in order to get a share of the £152.1m Local Transport Grant it will be getting from the Department for Transport between 2026/27 and 2029/30. The money could also be spent in North and North East Lincolnshire.

At a highways and transport scrutiny committee meeting on Monday, July 20, Coun Christopher Reeve (Reform UK – Scotter Rural) welcomed the suggestion that the A15 could be getting investment.

Under the plans, £7.5 million would be allocated towards widening the stretch of the road from Caenby Corner to County Boundary Road.

Coun Reeve said: “It’s not just that road, it’s the knock-on effects on the other roads. The other roads aren’t designed to take the traffic flows – that causes its own problems.

“The roads are quite antiquated for the size of vehicles these days and it’s one that’s really in need of extra funding.”

Under the plans, £1.214 million would also go towards improvements to the A15 Riseholme Lane junction. The A15 historically has seen many lorries overturn after running onto the verges due to its narrowness and lack of places for overtaking. However the cost of dualling the road is currently out of reach.

Coun Thomas Sneath (Reform UK – Holbeach) was pleased to see that Spalding Western Relief Road is on the list of proposals.

The 6.5km relief road project is due to link Pinchbeck and Spalding Common to relieve traffic through Spalding but has stalled with only one of three sections now built.

The county council wants £41.3 million from the GLCCA to go towards the estimated near-£69 million cost.

Also in South Holland, £4.504 million has also been put forward towards improvements to the busy A16 Crowland roundabout.

Coun Sneath said: “I’m really pleased to see a great spread of projects coming forward.

“It would be amiss of me not to highlight my delight to see that the A16 at Crowland roundabout has got planned improvements, hopefully, that will come forward.

“And, of course, we’ve got the Spalding Western Relief Road – again, really pleased to see them coming forward.”

Coun Richard Wright (Conservative – Ruskington) backed plans for £1.973m allocated towards a cycle and pedestrian path between Sleaford and Ruskington.

Coun Wright added: “We’ve moved around the county to put cycle tracks in and walkways – and they’re not always used – or are sparsely used.

“But this is four miles that is very regularly used – and people are cycling between the two – they’re walking between the two – I do it – and unfortunately it’s deteriorating.

“So, we’ll actually end up with less active travel unless we get something done about it – because in parts it’s not great to cycle.”

But James Bean (Reform UK – North Wolds) was unhappy that none of the projects featured improvements to the Caistor Top junction – which he argued has become an accident blackspot.

He said: “I’m rather disappointed to see there’s no mention of the junction at Caistor Top here which really is an awful junction.

“I understand the reason it’s not in this particular proposal is that it’s not quite at that right stage just yet.

“But I hope we will continue to move the project for a roundabout at Caistor Top forward before the worst happens and someone actually dies at this junction – because it is an awful junction.”

Sam Edwards, head of highways and economic infrastructure at LCC, replied that a study had been commissioned to ‘understand the options’ with Caistor Top. This will assess whether a roundabout is needed or is measures such as traffic lights would make a difference.

The projects rely on the approval of the GLCCA – the body that sits on top of all of the councils in Lincolnshire.