Bypass calls for Whaplode after 59% increase in number of roadworks permits on High Road
Campaigners say a bypass is the best option to tackle heavy traffic issues which are plaguing a village as we reveal the number of roadworks which have taken place in the last five years.
Motorists are regularly encountering temporary traffic lights along the A151 High Road in Whaplode — and a Freedom of Information Act request submitted by this website found that the permits for roadworks had been issued 147 times between 2019 and 2024. That’s the equivalent of more than two times a month.
Residents and councillors have been calling for many years to get a bypass for Whaplode - which is dissected by the A151 and has has thousands of lorries rumbling through every day. Regular works add to the issues and lead to frustration for residents and commuters.
But so far campaigners’ bypass calls have been unheeded — and the latest attempt was not progressed by Lincolnshire County Council after a feasibility study found that it would be unlikely to attract government funding.
There has been a 59% increase in the number of permits issued within the last five years for work to take place on or around the A151.
Lincolnshire County Council’s highways — along with utility companies such as Anglian Water, BT, Cadent and broadband firm Upp — are the main culprits for requesting permits to undertake roadworks.
Repairs to potholes, sewers, traffic islands, gas works and manhole covers are among the reasons for permits along with de-silting clearing blockages and raising kerbs.
The issue of road surfaces being damaged by heavy traffic and the need for a bypass has been highlighted in a joint statement issued by Whaplode councillors Allan Beal, Paul Redgate and Peter Coupland.
The statement said: “Clearly closing or restricting the A151 in Whaplode has a serious impact on the residents, both on the High Road and side roads, as well as the actual road users.
“One has to accept that the utility companies do not dig up A roads without good reason. As such, the reason is that necessary repairs or connections have to be carried out to the services under the road.
“We know that a lot of the infrastructure is old and ideally should be updated to take account of the increased housing, volume and weight of the traffic and climate changes with noticeable heavier rain.
“Councillors Redgate and Beal, as (South Holland) district councillors, work closely with our colleague, Coun Coupland at LCC to ensure that where possible any highway issues are monitored and a thorough repair done.
“However, what we are clearly seeing, is the volume and weight of the traffic damaging the road surface, and the drains constantly being clogged by the mud (albeit it is accepted that we live in a rural farming area).
“It could be that a proper by-pass off the A17 linking through to Weston would alleviate these issues, but finance would be one major obstacle in achieving this.”
The freedom of information request showed that there were 27 permits issued the financial year of 2019 and 2020 with Anglian Water and BT making the most requests.
Anglian Water made requests for permits in order to repair a manhole covers, fire hydrants and replacing stop taps. While the reasons for the BT permits included desilting ducts along with repairs to carriageways and footpaths.
Permits were also requested by National Grid, Cadent and the county council.
Numbers dropped to just 12 requests for permits in the following financial year with the county council and Anglian Water making the most requests.
A sewer collapse at the Chapel Gardens junction, a damaged traffic island and road re-surfacing were among the reasons for permits given by the county council.
Anglian Water needed to understand repairs to manhole covers and installing boundary boxes.
Other requests were made by BT, Cadent and National Grid.
Permit requests went up to 29 in the financial year of the 2021 and 2022 with the county council and Anglian Water making the most applications.
Six requests were made to deal with potholes and ‘holes in the road’ by the county council along with sorting trip hazards, fallen trees and a sunken pathway. A missing mahole cover exposing a large hole was the reason for another county council permit and a ‘trip hazard’.
Burst water main, emergency sewer jetting, stoptap replacements and installing a new district meter were among the reasons given by Anglian Water.
BT, National Grid and Cadent had also made requests in that year.
The number of permit requests rose again in the 2022 and 2023 financial year to 36.
The county council and UPP were the organisations who made the most requests for permits. Cadent, BT, Lightspeed and Anglian Water were also making requests.
The county council needed four permits for pothole repairs but also needed to raise six dropped kerbs in order to stop water after road re-surfacing. Requests were made for speed camera maintenance, fallen trees and removing bumps to stop lorries bouncing.
The number of requests rose to 43 in the 2023 and 2024 financial year with UPP, the county council and Cadent making the most requests.
Clearing blockages and gaining ‘box access’ and installing new joints were some of the rquests made by UPP.
Repairing two potholes, putting the Whaplode sign back up and raising kerbs to stop flooding were the reasons fo the county council requests.
Cadent needed to roadworks in order to undertake remedial works on a valve which supplies the gas network in Spalding along with repairing a gas escape.
The county council says that High Road is one of 100 roads in Lincolnshire which have had more than 100 permits granted in the last five years.
Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways, said: “The number of permits issued for High Road over the past five years isn’t unusually high. As you can imagine, Lincolnshire’s main roads, especially those that pass through urban areas, tend to require more maintenance and repairs due to the sheer volume of people using them.
“As the local highways authority, it’s our job to maintain the county’s road network as best we can with the money we have. And, because we cover such a broad range of assets including roads, footways, street lights, surface water drains, signs, lines, trees and vegetation, traffic signals and more, it’s not uncommon for us to request the most permits.
“We most definitely understand the frustration our roadworks can cause, which is why we always carry out repairs in the least disruptive way possible. We also do our best to combine different types of essential work under one set of traffic management. Doing this means they can be carried out at once rather than individually, which would cause more headache for people.”
The county said that many of the requests were made in response to reports on Fix My Street.
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