Lincolnshire County Council to close Boston Road South to undertake investigation work

A town road which is plagued by a sink hole is going to be shut later this week for investigation work.

Lincolnshire County Council will be closing Boston Road South in Holbeach from tomorrow (Wednesday) until Friday, April 26, in a bid to find out the cause of the returning dip.

Concerns have been raised in the town recently over safety as motorists are having to avoid the significant dip which has once again returned to the road – despite having thousands of pounds spent on it by the county council and Anglian Water.

An order to close the road next week states that it is to complete: “urgent testing required to determine what is causing the sink hole”.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for Highways at Lincolnshire County Council said: “The subsidence that has appeared needs to be investigated so that the exact cause of what’s happened at the site this time can be identified.

“Our expert team will be carrying out some very specific and involved tests of the site and we are hopeful that we will be able to pinpoint exactly what is happening at the lower levels deep under the road.

“We have seen before that the unique geology of the area can cause issues with road building and previously, we have carried out extensive deep-level builds on Boston Road South to try and mitigate any damage done by shifting substrate.

“As soon as we have the results of the investigation, we will be able to work out the best way to get this issue resolved for the residents and businesses who use this road.

“We will do everything that we can to keep disruption down to an absolute minimum. I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone effected for their understanding and patience while the team get on with their search.”

The county has stated that the road is safe to drive on but has commissioned a survey to find out what is happening.

Karen Cassar, assistant director – highways, said: “We are continuing to monitor this dip in Boston Road South regularly continuing our efforts to discern the cause behind it.

“The road currently remains safe to drive on. In the meantime, we’ve commissioned a specialist, third-party surveyor to better understand what’s happening under the surface.

“Once we’ve got a better idea of what the problem is and a solution, we’ll carry out any necessary repairs as quickly and efficiently as possible.”

Issues with sinking in Boston Road South first began in 2019, but these were reported further up the street before moving down.

Excavations and repairs were undertaken in 2021.

And in 2022, the road underwent significant repair work which included Anglian Water relining the sewer.

More than £462,296 was spent on various investigations and works over the years, a Freedom of Information request revealed in 2022.

Concerns have been raised about the state of the road by people living in the area.

An Anglian Water spokesman said; “We’ve carried out CCTV investigations on the sewer on Boston Road South in recent weeks and found that all our assets are working as they should.

“We’ve been working closely with Highways throughout these investigations – since we’re confident that nothing on our network is causing this dip, they’ll be leading on this going forward.”

The county council says it is also monitoring the significant dip in Pinchbeck Road, Spalding.