The condition of our roads is one of the most common topics residents ask us about as county councillors.
Transportation and connectivity is vital in a rural county like Lincolnshire and we all need to be able to get around our extensive highways network – whether by car, public transport or other means.
Dual carriageways and motorways are generally looked after by National Highways, including the A1, which is an important route through the county.
I’m pleased that National Highways are looking at a number of targeted improvements along the A1 to help improve safety. Work on this is ongoing and we’re in regular contact as progress continues.
It’s also good to know that they are exploring the potential to close some of the existing openings in the central reservation that encourage dangerous manoeuvres, and improve some of the slip roads onto the A1.
I know roadworks can be a frustration and sometimes cause delays to journeys, but they also represent steps to keep our county moving in the long term.
We’re also continuing our investment in our roads with major projects across the county including Levelling Up improvements to the A16 between Boston and Spalding and construction of the Grantham Southern Relief Road. We’re now also planning the build of the North Hykeham Relief Road, due to start in 2025.
You can’t really talk about roads in Lincolnshire without considering our ongoing battle with potholes.
The council has 5,500 miles of highways to maintain in the county and a vastly reduced pot of money to fund that work. In the recent Spring Budget, the Chancellor allocated around £6.8m for filling potholes in Lincolnshire.
However, the government have reduced the amount they provide for road maintenance by 25% in recent years, and this additional funding will not go far in addressing this shortfall. In effect, the cuts put in place by government until the end of 2024 will mean that we will have lost the equivalent of an entire year’s worth of roads maintenance funding – a huge £47m black hole in the resources we critically need. Even before this huge cut to our funding, we needed more to deal with potholes.
Now despite using money from our council reserves to prop-up the roads maintenance budget this year to the tune of £7m, there is significant pressure from increasing costs of energy and materials too, meaning we can repair fewer potholes for the same money.
We are already lobbying the government and talking to our local MPs about this issue. With 660 miles of roads which are rated poor or very poor, we will continue to keep this at the top of our priority list to ensure our residents get the best standards of road we can deliver.