Lincolnshire County Council leader Councillor Martin Hill talks about Grantham roadworks

We hope the roadworks will benefit everyone, writes Councillor Martin Hill, leader of Lincolnshire County Council.

Last week’s headline in the Grantham Journal did make me think that you can sometimes never win!

The council is often criticised about road maintenance, but then, when we take action, we’re often criticised for putting in roadworks to address a problem.

I think that we all know that in Grantham (like most similar towns) the delays caused by congestion can be very frustrating at times. I personally have spent too much time stationary in a vehicle there, but for example last Wednesday, I had a relatively smooth trip.

That’s why the county council is currently completing a major relief road for the town costing just under £150 million to help address the situation and we constantly try and improve traffic flows and encourage other alternatives to cars.

Unfortunately, there are sometimes sudden issues like HGV’s stuck under railway bridges, A1 closures, breakdowns of infrastructure or necessary roadworks.

Currently, Dysart Road is under repairs which cannot be delayed and there are two schemes which we are doing on behalf of South Kesteven District Council which due to their government funding deadlines have to be done now. We are doing our best to minimise delays.

It is not an ideal situation, but it does mean for some weeks we will all have to wait a little bit longer at the affected areas or work out alternative strategies to avoid delays.

It is frustrating, but in terms of encouraging visitors and shoppers to the town exaggerated narratives like traffic chaos (as opposed to delays) and other doom and gloom scenarios are not helpful.

Much of the work we have undertaken has already seen a successful conclusion. We have completed two major road reconstruction projects and built two brand-new pedestrian crossings.

Our combined pedestrian crossing construction and road reconstruction works to the B1174 in Great Gonerby came to a successful end in June. Following that, we opened another new pedestrian crossing on Barrowby Road near Poplar farm in July ahead of finishing the reconstruction of a section of Alma Park Road in August.

We are confident that these completed works mean safer journeys for everyone, whether you’re travelling by car, on foot or by cycle.

I believe that Grantham has a great future ahead of it with its national location and

great history and culture. Your council representatives are trying hard to achieve that which will require positivity and ambition.

In the meantime, I want to thank everyone for their patience and bearing with us while we work towards making Grantham an easier place to travel in.

For more information about these and other roadworks in and around Grantham, visit: www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/granthamroadworks.