Lincolnshire County Council shares new images of delayed Grantham relief road project

Lincolnshire County Council has released new images of a major road project delayed by a design error.

The images show the scale of the Grantham Southern Relief Road bridge sections, which will be installed over the next year.

The road’s completion has been delayed by 12 months due to a design flaw with the bridge over the River Witham and East Coast Main Line.

The project, originally due in 2025, is now delayed to 2026, with costs rising £10-20 million to £158-168 million.

Lincolnshire County Council will pursue legal action to recoup the costs and remains committed to completing the project.

In a statement last week, Councillor Richard Davies (Con) said he was 'annoyed' and 'disappointed' by the news but noted the road’s near completion.

"Safety comes first, so the work was halted to allow our designers and contractors to address the problem," he said.

"We’ve done everything you could reasonably expect us to do as clients for the scheme, but we feel we’ve been let down.

"This is a more than £100 million road scheme to move the A52 out of Grantham.

He said the A52 had always been heavily trafficked, and this road was desperately needed to relieve Grantham's congestion.

He said the bridge was the 'final piece’.

The design flaw concerned wind conditions during installation, requiring a redesign to mitigate vibrations and rail closures.

The final bridge installation will take several months, followed by construction of the rest of the structure on the east side, including lifting new steel beams.