National Highways urged to “pull their finger out” by Lincolnshire County Council’s highways boss over rising A1 accidents between Grantham and Stamford
National Highways has stated that it is taking the safety of the A1 seriously after a highways leader claimed the authority needed to “pull their finger out”.
Lincolnshire County Council's executive member for highways Richard Davies (Con) described the main road situation as an 'absolute disgrace' after the rising number of weekly accidents and delays.
He expressed frustration, arguing that potential plans to close junctions and add signs would be insufficient and would severely impact residents.
He said fixing the A1 required 'substantial motorway-like upgrades' over 20 years, including bypasses, lanes, and bridges.
“They need to pull their finger out; it’s an absolute disgrace,” he said.
“When we started talking about this three or four years ago, we were looking at the road being closed for a couple of hours once a fortnight because of accidents; now we’re seeing closures weekly.
“My heart goes out to people who are physically affected, along with their friends and family, but also to the knock-on impact on the local community in places like Grantham, Harrowby, Long Bennington, and all the other villages up and down from Stamford to Newark."
“The A1 is the busiest arterial road for HGV traffic in the country, more so than the M1, and the fact that it’s not getting that level of investment shows that we, under successive governments, have been the poor relation of the nation in terms of the East Midlands.”
In response, National Highways said it was taking the safety of road users “very seriously,” pointing to its ongoing studies into crossing points along the A1.
However, National Highways programme development manager, Ian Doust, added: “It is important that we capture the context and patterns of incidents along the length of the A1 so we can fully understand the causation factors and take meaningful and informed action, rather than commit taxpayers’ money to plans that will not provide effective solutions.
He said the studies would assess the usage of each gap, consider alternative arrangements, and evaluate the consequences of any closure proposals.
He added that the study was still in its early phases.
Although not on the A1, National Highways noted a £500 million investment in areas like the A46 Newark Bypass and A52 Nottingham Junctions.
The authority said it was working closely with councils on schemes such as the Newark Southern Link Road, Grantham Southern Relief Road, and North Hykeham Relief Road.
