Concerns for Boston Road works revealed

Boston Road: Night-time closures next year will lead to lengthy diversions for drivers

Lincolnshire County Council has confirmed the schedule should take place between March 4 and April 12.

It will involve a nightime closure of Boston Road from Mareham Road to the junction of the B1183 to Revesby.

Highways officials are suggesting a closure from 6pm to 6am although town councillors are pressing for that start time to be pushed back at least an hour to avoid the ‘tail of the local rush hour’.

When the closure is operating, the recommended diversion route is along the A158 from Horncastle to Partney (10 miles), the A16 to West Keale (two miles), the A155 to the A153 north of Coningsby (13 miles) and finally the A153 to Horncastle (8 miles).

That’s a total of 33 miles - for a journey that usually covers less than one mile.

The diversion could particularly affect traffic to the town’s industrial estate which would be ‘cut off’ by the roadworks at night.

News of the Boston Road schedule comes as the town is still recovering from the impact of major roadworks in West Street, Langton Hill and Jubilee Way, which only finished a couple of weeks ago.

At their monthly meeting last week, town councillors accepted the work on Boston Road needed doing.

However, they raised a number of concerns, including the likelihood that even more vehicles would use Queen Street and Foundry Street.

Town and district councillor Fiona Martin questioned whether she would even be able to get out of her own home during the closures.

She said that apart from the 6pm start time, she was concerned about the potential impact on Stanhope Hall and Banovallum School - even though access will be maintained, especially in the day-time.

Regarding the diversion, Mayor Coun Brian Burbidge referred to the recent recommended route regarding work on Lincoln Road and Langton Hill when he said: “It’s a long, long, way round - again. It’s a nightmare for a lot of people.”

Coun Dominic Hinkins said he was concerned about the impact on Foundry Street and Queen Street - and the Winceby Gardens area.

He said residents would ‘rightly’ be worried about any increase in traffic.

Both Queen Street and Foundry Street are supposedly ‘residents only’.