Pinchbeck Parish Council calls on farmers and haulage companies to find alternative routes

Frustrated councillors who are fed-up with the ‘unacceptable’ heavy traffic thundering through their village are calling on companies to look at alternative routes.

Pinchbeck Parish Council has been fighting to improve road safety for years by trying to get a weight limit imposed to prevent lorries and tractors from using the village - but so far their calls have fallen on deaf ears.

The council - which learned that a lorry was travelling down Knight Street every two minutes in a survey - is once again calling on Lincolnshire County Council to discuss the issue along with issuing an appeal for farms and haulage companies to avoid the village.

Lorries are also seen travelling along the residential area of Rotten Row as a cut-through to get to the Warden Tree Lane area plus traffic was recently held-up on Northgate while two lorries tried to negotiate the bridge near The Ship.

Trucks have also been using the smaller Money Bridge Lane, which has ruts either side of the road, after being diverted away from the top of Northgate, while it has been closed.

Coun James Avery, parish council chairman, said: “The frequency of heavy vehicle movements in and around Pinchbeck is of great concern to Pinchbeck Parish Council.

“Lincolnshire County Council led residents to believe there would be a southwestern relief road (SWRR) to re-route heavy traffic away from Pinchbeck, but we now know a joined up SWRR is likely to be years away.

“The number of heavy goods vehicle movements through the centre of Pinchbeck is unacceptable, but we are thankful that although near misses occur, there have been no serious incidents.

“We believe however, that vehicle operators could help this situation by ensuring their vehicles take alternative routes. Farmers too have a part to play. Many very large tractors move at great speed along Knight Street but need to be mindful there are a great many pedestrians, particularly children also using Knight Street.

“We are in the process of trying to engage with Lincolnshire Highways to discuss this, and other matters that concern the parish council in the way of safety for road and pathway users in Pinchbeck.”

The council has been raising the issues for some time and took part in a summit meeting with MP Sir John Hayes and Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones in March 2020.

Councillors and residents discovered that a ‘considerable number’ of HGVs are using the village as a gateway during a traffic survey in Knight Street, Rotten Row and The Approach in 2022.

Pinchbeck councillors have compiled their own traffic management strategy and members have captured data to show where speeding is an issue.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for Highways at LCC said: "As the local highways authority, we are always very appreciative of any local individuals or groups who want to get us involved with traffic issues in their area.

"Anything that bring a local focus on local traffic to us, with that real insight of what's going on from the local community, is very valuable and potentially a real help in our planning and highway works.

"We continue to strongly advise everyone who has something that they want to say about their local traffic flow to get in touch with us via their local county councillor who can get the ball rolling on any discussions and assessments that might be needed in the first instance."

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