Boston Road is next in line for improvements

Drivers in Horncastle could face more delays and diversions in the coming months as major improvements are carried out to two busy roads.
The busy A153 (Boston Road/South Street) which will be re-surfacedThe busy A153 (Boston Road/South Street) which will be re-surfaced
The busy A153 (Boston Road/South Street) which will be re-surfaced

County Council contractors are due to start work re-surfacing Boston Road (A153) in March.

Conging Street - the main access to the Tesco supermarket and car park - will also be re-surfaced over two weekends - one at the end of June and the other at the start of July.

Letters have been sent to residents and businesses outlining plans for the Boston Road programme.

The County Council says it is hoping to keep disruption to a minimum with any closures taking place at night.

Once again, there is a lengthy recommended diversion via the A155 to Spilsby (A16) and then the A158 to Horncastle.

Town councillors had urged the County Council to keep Boston Road open until 7pm, not least to cope with traffic from the town’s industrial estate.

Apart from the industrial estate, Boston Road is also busy with commuter traffic until well after 6pm.

However, at their monthly meeting last week, councillors heard the road could be closed from 6pm, prompting Coun Fiona Martin to say: “Once again, we have not been listened to.”

Coun Martin asked whether the request for a later closure could be made again, but she was told that because letters had been sent out, it was probably too late.

More details of the Boston Road scheme will become available over the next few weeks.

Town councillors said they were concerned that during the works, Fifty Acre, Foundry Street and Queen Street could become ‘rat runs’ during the works.

They plan to ask police to carry out more checks on Foundry Street and Queen Street which have a ‘residents only’ restriction.

Mayor Coun Brian Burbidge said traffic might even use the Banovallum Gardens estate to avoid Boston Road completely.

Meanwhile, work on Conging Street is scheduled for June 29-30 and July 6-7.

Any full closure of the road is aimed to tie-in with supermarket opening hours.