‘Falling apart’ section of A16 between Cowbit and Crowland set for reconstruction - but night time closures could lead to ‘40 minutes’ being added to travel time

A ‘falling apart’ three-mile section of the A16 is set for reconstruction.

Lincolnshire County Council will carry out the work on the stretch between Cowbit and Crowland next month, with night time closures in place.

Motorists are being warned this could lead to two separate diversions, with an extra ‘40 minutes’ for journeys, as night time closures are still in place on the A16 at Pinchbeck.

“Anyone who’s recently driven the A16 between Cowbit and Crowland knows that it’s falling apart,” said Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways.

“That’s why we’ve taken the decision to get in and repair this three-mile stretch of road as soon as possible.

“This £2.3 million scheme won’t be easy, since the A16 is one of Lincolnshire’s most used routes.

“That’s why we’re carrying the works out overnight – to ensure as few people as possible are inconvenienced by the repairs.”

The £80 million A16 link to Peterborough was opened in 2010, but highways chiefs recently said the stretch of road was ‘set up for failure’ due to underfunding and geological issues.

It is now beset by dips and pot holes.

Work will be undertaken from Monday, March 17 until early June, subject to weather, on the A16 between the A1175/B1173 roundabout in Cowbit - by the Tulip Queen restaurant and Applegreen service station - and the Peterborough Road/James Road roundabout in Crowland.

Night-time road closures from 7pm to 6am, weekday evenings only

Works will be carried out in two phases and specific dates for each will be signposted on the road in advance of any closures.

The diversion route will be via the A1175 to Market Deeping / A15 to Peterborough, and vice versa.

The A16 closure for the Pinchbeck Roundabout works also will be underway until late March, between Ten Acre Lane and Springfields Roundabout.

The closure for these works is from 8pm to 6am to allow extra time for lorries out of Pinchbeck rather than passing through Spalding.

Coun Davies added: “Anyone travelling the A16 between Boston and Peterborough at night during these works will need to follow two separate diversions for up to one week – one for these A16 Cowbit works and one for our A16 Pinchbeck Roundabout improvements.

“This could add an extra 40 minutes onto journey times so we’re encouraging people to plan carefully and leave extra time for their travels.”