Cowbit Parish Council call for speed limit extension while A16 is rebuilt

‘A disaster waiting to happen’ is how a council chairman has dubbed plans which could see lorries thundering through his village while a failing section of the A16 is repaired.

Cowbit Parish Council is braced for an increase in traffic using the village while Lincolnshire County Council reconstructs a crumbling stretch of the A16 between now and early June.

Highways chiefs will be repairing the pot-hole riddled section of the A16 between Cowbit and Crowland in a series of night-time closures which begin today (Monday March 17) after motorists have been complaining about the poor state of the road for years.

But, while this work is ongoing, the parish council wants action taken to stop lorries using Barrier Bank as a diversion route to prevent further subsidence. It also wants a temporary 30mph speed limit imposed on the stretch between Cowbit church and Brotherhouse Bar.

The county council has imposed a temporary weight limit on Stonegate but will be suspending the weight limit on Barrier Bank. The authority will also not be imposing a temporary speed limit.

Cowbit Parish Council chairman Trevor Tyrrell is not happy that county chiefs have not listened to locals’ fears.

He said of lorries going through the village: “It is a disaster waiting to happen.

“The idea of the A16 is to keep traffic away from the village but when there is an incident or accident on the A16, they close the road. As soon as traffic management can they divert onto an A road - no matter if it is falling to pieces.

“This is going to make the problem worse and just look at the road to Crowland - it is falling to pieces.”

Coun Tyrrell said the section of Barrier Bank near to Applegreen services is subsiding and has been patched up by the county council in the past.

He also wants the speed limit reduce to ensure that vehicles do not speed through the village again.

Coun Tyrrell added: “It’s just not good enough. When we are all lumped together into one unitary authority they are going to forget about us at the edge of the county.

“They need to reduce the speed limit to 30mph.

“It is a known fact that fast vehicles do more damage to roads. And they won’t have the money to repair it.

“The A16 is not fit for purpose.”

The county council is spending £2.3million on the rebuilding of the A16 between the A1175/B1173 roundabout in Cowbit and the Peterborough Road/James Road roundabout in Crowland.

The night-time closures run from 7pm to 6am. The work begins today and runs until early June, depending on weather.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for Highways at LCC said: “We’ve contacted the parish council with regards to the proposed works and the implementation of a temporary weight limit on Stonegate, which we’re putting in place to prevent rat-running through the village.

“As far as imposing a temporary speed limit on Barrier Bank goes, we have already responded to the parish council on this matter too. The existing 50mph speed limit has been reviewed and the result of that work is that it’s decided that the speed limit is appropriate for the predicted traffic that the road is likely to get during the works. Factors like night-time working onsite, and the reduction in traffic that normally occurs during those hours, come into play with a diversion such as this.

“The existing speed limit in place is below the national speed limit, and the introduction of a temporary 30mph limit is unlikely to significantly impact average speeds along the route which is why the decision has been made in the way it has.”

What do you think? Post a comment below…