South Lincolnshire highways and infrastructure projects outlined by Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice including A16 dual carriageway and Boston Bypass

Several “game-changer” highway and infrastructure projects have been pitched in a £495 million bid to help boost south Lincolnshire.

Boston and Skegness MP Richard Tice, deputy leader of Reform UK, said Rachel Reeves’ recent spending review delivered “the square root of not a lot,” for Lincolnshire - and he has chosen to put forward his own plans to build a long-awaited Boston Bypass, dual the A16 between Boston and Peterborough and deliver various local rail improvements — such as linking the Boston more directly to Spalding.

Acknowledging the congestion issues faced by Boston, partly due to having 11 road and rail crossings in and around the town, Mr Tice presented the projects to a room full of party colleagues, press and council leaders at Boston Rugby Club on Tuesday morning (June 17). He outlined the steps needed to demonstrate the need for the projects so that funding can be attracted in the future.

He said: “Most people would probably admit that south Lincolnshire has had a bit of a rum deal in infrastructure spend compared to elsewhere in Lincolnshire and the East Midlands region.”

He later urged the need for growth, more jobs and more investment in Boston and surrounding areas, adding: “The thing about building is you have got to put the infrastructure in first. You have got to put the foundations in, you’ve got to put the services in, but you have got to put the roads and network in because that attracts investment, it attracts businesses, it makes people want to invest in an area.

“If you try and build things or attract people without sufficient infrastructure, it doesn’t go well.”

The first proposal revisits the long-discussed idea of a bypass around Boston — with mentions of the scheme dating back to 1946. According to a document commissioned by Executive Consultancy Services Ltd, roads in, through and out of the town are experiencing annual average daily traffic flow figures ranging from 13,000 through to more than 41,000 vehicles. The total estimated cost of the project is £156 million. If all goes to plan, construction could be completed in March 2030.

The dualling of the A16 between Boston and Peterborough aims to tackle both congestion and road safety concerns. Between January 2013 and December 2023, there were 242 collisions on that stretch, resulting in 341 casualties and 17 fatalities. The total cost of the project is predicted at £273 million, with construction also completed on a similar timeline to the bypass.

Rail improvements under consideration include two new stations north and south of Boston — one near the Tesco at Wyberton Fen — both with park-and-ride facilities and shuttle bus services to the town centre and Pilgrim Hospital. Plans also include upgrades to the port link to allow freight trains to switch more efficiently, and a reconnection to the Spalding and Peterborough line — enabling new passenger and freight opportunities across the region. The predicted total cost for rail improvements is £23.4 million with a further £42.2m for the freight upgrade.

The MP for Boston & Skegness set out the “series of steps” needed to get the projects off the ground, starting with a strategic outline business case, followed by an outline business case, and then a full business case before construction.

When asked how confident he was about receiving funding for the projects, he responded: “I haven’t got a quarter of a billion pounds in my back pocket, which is why I set out the steps.

“We're putting our case here to the mayor and to the county council. I'm saying these are opportunities for small pieces of funding to do the detailed analysis. You do it step by step — and if you get through the first step, then you justify getting to the next step. At those sorts of sums, in the relative scheme of things, it’s well manageable and well deliverable — and that’s how you do it.”

The Independent leader of Boston Borough Council Anne Dorrian was among those attending the event. Sharing her initial thoughts, she praised the MP’s ambition but questioned how deliverable the projects were.

Speaking to the Local Democracy Reporting Service, she said: “It's a hugely exciting project. I absolutely love his vision.

“If he is successful in achieving what he set out here today, then the prospects for the residents of Boston are limitless, so I wish him every success in his endeavour.

“I don't want to rain on his parade, but what he set out today is hugely ambitious and there has got to be a big question mark over whether it's all achievable and deliverable — especially in the short timescales that he gave. However, I like the fire in his belly.”