Progress continues on Spalding Western Relief Road with new …
Engineers are continuing to make progress on the Spalding Western Relief Road[1].
Construction work on the controversial road[2] – which has been designed to link Pinchbeck and Spalding Common by running along the western side of town – began last year but it remains unclear when this project will be fully completed.
Lincolnshire County Council and South Holland District Council are working together on the scheme with the northern section of the road due to be completed in 2024 after being subject to delays. Officials have said work on the southern section of the road is not likely to start until 2030 and the middle segment remains unfunded.
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Both councils and Homes England were contributing towards the costs of the road – which was previously estimated to cost £105 million – along with money from developers[4].
This road has been touted as the only answer to the problem of heavy congestion in Spalding[5], especially when the many freight trains[6] pass through, but it is also hoped to divert lorries and other traffic away from the town centre.
The latest batch of photographs show that a bridge over the railway is now in place after the beams were added earlier in the autumn.
County bosses have confirmed that the height of the bridge has been raised in order to accommodate future electrification of this line.
Network Rail[7] has outlined hopes of electrifying the Great Northern and Great Eastern (GNGE) line which runs through Spalding within its long-term strategy for the network in Lincolnshire which also included support for a Sunday service for the town.
English Regional Transport Association has supported calls for this railway line to be electrified.
A spokesman said: “More freight by rail is increasingly on the agenda across the whole network and in an environmental context makes more sense if only we have a more joined-up and comprehensive infrastructure.
“It is ERTA’s view that we were calling for this before the pandemic alongside a study into a new-build March-Spalding rail link.
“Development blight on old railway corridors should be seen as unacceptable and poor stewardship and councils and governments who permit such, when there is a growing demand for rail-usage generally, should pay compensation commensurate to what needs relocation to enable a rail link to get through.”
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References
- ^ Spalding Western Relief Road (www.lincsonline.co.uk)
- ^ road (www.lincsonline.co.uk)
- ^ signing up for The Briefing (www.lincsonline.co.uk)
- ^ developers (www.lincsonline.co.uk)
- ^ heavy congestion in Spalding (www.lincsonline.co.uk)
- ^ freight trains (www.lincsonline.co.uk)
- ^ Network Rail (www.lincsonline.co.uk)