A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

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jervi
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A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by jervi »

£20m has been awarded to LCC for improvements on the A16 through Lincolnshire. This is likely to cover a few separate schemes:
* Roundabout with Marsh Lane to get a free-flow NB roundabout bypass.
* Roundabout with Station Road to be converted to a traffic signal controlled crossroads.
* Roundabout with B1180 to be widened.
* Roundabout with A151 to be widened & "enhancement" of crossing facilities, which might be a cycle/foot bridge.
* Wyberton Low Road Active Travel improvements.
* A151 Camel Gate Junction Active Travel improvements.
Junction improvements will be built with future A16 dualling in mind.
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/downloa ... p-fund-bid - bid
https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/ar ... provements - press release
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danfw194
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by danfw194 »

The phrase 'every little helps' I guess is pertinent here, if you're trying to view it from a glass half full perspective. But ultimately it's not going to change the fact this is a pretty ropey old stretch of road, as most are in this region.
Fenlander
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by Fenlander »

Not much point playing around with B1180 & A151 roundabouts if they’re not going to do anything about the biggest problems there - the stationary queue of traffic from one to the other and beyond.
They spent a lot of money redoing the A16/A17 Sutterton roundabout and then within a year undid most of those improvements by adding the new service area there so forgive me if I’m less than impressed with both the short & long term plans.
A320Driver
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by A320Driver »

Needs to be D2 from Peterborough to Boston given the amount of HGV traffic.
Formerly ‘guvvaA303’
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skiddaw05
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by skiddaw05 »

The A16 has always been a bit of a puzzle to me, in what its purpose is: is it (just?) the main access route for Boston or is it (also) a nationally significant route - obviously it connects Peterborough and Grimsby, and links Grimsby to the A1 to London and so on. But like its numerical neighbour the A17 it serves as short cut through the Fens to higher standard but longer alternative routes. But unlike the A17 (which doesn’t go through any significant settlements) the A16’s role as a strategic long distance route is hamstrung by it slamming through the middle of Boston. So I can’t see anything more than the proposed tinkering around the edges being planned until after the unlikely event of Boston getting a bypass
Fenlander
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by Fenlander »

I'd settle for the odd bit of 2+1 rather than full dualling, especially either side of the many roundabouts where there's a big performance difference between slow & heavy lorries and tractors and the rest of us just wanting to get on with things, once the lorries are up to cruising speed there's usually a slower moving car that becomes the lead of the queue.
The A16 from Boston south toward the A17 roundabout at Sutterton is easily wide enough for 2+1 as is shown at the many junctions, there's a wide hard shoulder for most of it where a bit of white lining could easily work, just like a crawler lane on a hill except on the flat. South of the A17 it wasn't built with that width so it would require a lot more work to create the space for a 3rd lane but it's doable.

Around Spalding there's usually a solid queue from A151 junction back towards Boston past the next roundabout near the power station, occasionally back to Surfleet rbt. It is an ideal candidate for 2+1 with the 2nd lane splitting off round the back of Mcdonalds (why do Lincolnshire CC insist on wedging in every junction causing longer term problems) onto the A151 eastbound as there's a lot of both longer W-E and local traffic just using that short stretch of A16 almost as a multiplex which easily overloads it. South of that roundabout it's fairly quiet until you get to the more recent bit where you leave the old A16 and turn left onto the 2010 A16 towards P'bog. That stretch should always have been dual from day 1.
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wrinkly
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by wrinkly »

I've just discovered that there is a proposed Spalding Western Relief Road and that there is this page about it:

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/major-p ... elief-road

The five links numbered 1-5 show the sections of the route.
Fenlander
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by Fenlander »

AKA the road to nowhere. It's a relief road that won't provide any relief until the rest of it is built as they'll bridge the river (Vernatts Drain) and the railway the other end of town.

They're only building part 5 for now, all it does is put a bridge over the railway north of town to open up a huge swathe of land for housing development. It's part 4 that would provide some relief to the traffic problems north of the town (almost entirely down to the level crossing on Woolram Wygate & the tailbacks it creates)as it would get traffic back over the river (Vernatt's Drain) and back into town again.

As part of the construction they've already removed a pedestrian/cycle bridge over Vernatts that provided a safe route away from traffic (it's supposed to be reinstated but not for 2 years), closed a pedestrian level crossing that would have been the diversion route from the closed bridge and are currently piledriving for the railway bridge while getting on with the Spalding Road/Enterprise Way roundabout.
2 Sheds
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Re: A16 Boston-Spalding improvements

Post by 2 Sheds »

Fenlander wrote: Fri Oct 29, 2021 19:54 I'd settle for the odd bit of 2+1 rather than full dualling, especially either side of the many roundabouts where there's a big performance difference between slow & heavy lorries and tractors and the rest of us just wanting to get on with things, once the lorries are up to cruising speed there's usually a slower moving car that becomes the lead of the queue.
The A16 from Boston south toward the A17 roundabout at Sutterton is easily wide enough for 2+1 as is shown at the many junctions, there's a wide hard shoulder for most of it where a bit of white lining could easily work, just like a crawler lane on a hill except on the flat. South of the A17 it wasn't built with that width so it would require a lot more work to create the space for a 3rd lane but it's doable.

Around Spalding there's usually a solid queue from A151 junction back towards Boston past the next roundabout near the power station, occasionally back to Surfleet rbt. It is an ideal candidate for 2+1 with the 2nd lane splitting off round the back of Mcdonalds (why do Lincolnshire CC insist on wedging in every junction causing longer term problems) onto the A151 eastbound as there's a lot of both longer W-E and local traffic just using that short stretch of A16 almost as a multiplex which easily overloads it. South of that roundabout it's fairly quiet until you get to the more recent bit where you leave the old A16 and turn left onto the 2010 A16 towards P'bog. That stretch should always have been dual from day 1.
The A16 from Boston to the A17 was rerouted onto a former railway route in the 1990s. It was a trunk road at that time and the scheme was known as the Boston to Algarkirk improvement. The scheme was designed by Lincolnshire County Council highways dept for the DOT. It lost trunk route status along with most other English trunked single carriageways in the late 1990s.
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