Lincoln Eastern Bypass: "Get on with it!"

[jervi]

Well she does rather have a point about the lack of DC. Making it lower standard than the southern bypass is just storing up trouble for the future, A1237 style.

I'd disagree (at the moment). It doesn't need to be a dual carriageway.
A15 only has less than 10k on its southern end at Bracebridge Heath, and 13k on the other side. LCC predicts traffic will reduce by 25% on Broadgate which is about 3k vehicles.
So it's only expected to carry 3,000 vehicles a day when opened, although in Practice I'd imagine it to be closer to 5k.
At 5k the only benefit of it being dual is to travel faster, however over the <5 miles +4 roundabouts I doubt you could save 1 minute by it being dual. Also would be easier to overtake HGVs, however there is a crawler lane up the hill, so that issue is mostly resolved.
Once the southern bypass is open and the inside of the ring road is full of houses, it will be time to dual it, but that will be around 2040. And by that point who knows what advancements would of happen in automatic driving, maybe 20, 30 or 40k vehicles will be able to fit onto a single carriageway with no problems.

However, they have built the route with dualing in mind, all structures are wide enough and the highway boundary is wide enough for dualing at a later stage, which is better then what happened on the A17 at Heckington in the 90s which is now on the board to be dualed.

[jackal]

Some fair points, though it does raise the question of why the southern bypass is designed as DC rather than SC with similar future proofing.

[TheKeymeister]

Some fair points, though it does raise the question of why the southern bypass is designed as DC rather than SC with similar future proofing.

I imagine that might be with a view to sending A15/A607 traffic that doesn't want to enter Lincoln around the A46, with the Eastern bypass just left for local traffic.

I've said for a while I believe the eastern bypass will work as single carriageway - as long as the existing single bits are dualled as they're the only ones likely to carry much long distance traffic. Holiday traffic may be the exception to this

[darkcape]

However, they have built the route with dualing in mind, all structures are wide enough and the highway boundary is wide enough for dualing at a later stage, which is better then what happened on the A17 at Heckington in the 90s which is now on the board to be dualed.

I thought only the overbridges were futureproofed and major structures like the viaducts are only wide enough for single carriageway?

[TheKeymeister]

However, they have built the route with dualing in mind, all structures are wide enough and the highway boundary is wide enough for dualing at a later stage, which is better then what happened on the A17 at Heckington in the 90s which is now on the board to be dualed.

I thought only the overbridges were futureproofed and major structures like the viaducts are only wide enough for single carriageway?

I believe the roundabouts were sized such that it would be easier to convert to dual in the future as well, there would need to be second viaducts built in the case of dualling. The section between Branston and Bracebridge Heath has also been made more difficult to dual by the massive earth mounds that have been built either side of the new road!

[jervi]

However, they have built the route with dualing in mind, all structures are wide enough and the highway boundary is wide enough for dualing at a later stage, which is better then what happened on the A17 at Heckington in the 90s which is now on the board to be dualed.

I thought only the overbridges were futureproofed and major structures like the viaducts are only wide enough for single carriageway?

That is true. They could probably get three lanes across it if they put the NMU provision onto its own bridge. All other structures are wide enough for D2 + 3m NMU path.

[The Deuce]

The bypass will open this weekend - 19/20 December

https://www.lincolnshirelive.co.uk/news ... el-4796388

[jervi]

The bypass opened this morning!
I had a drive around it in both directions, as well as driving the old route to see the change in signage.
Overall its fairly decent, however there are some glaring major issues, all of which I am letting the highway authority aware of.
First of all they are using "two-way traffic" warning signs at the end of the crawler lane, which is incorrect. On the Northern side of the river this sign is on the other side of the roundabout and it isn't clear at all what lanes continue ahead at the Greetwell Roundabout, and will certainly cause some conflicts there, here I presume both lanes go ahead, with a merge directly after the roundabout. Also where there is a crawler lane, it can be hard to see the double white line in the opposite direction due to the sun, this will always be an issue but there are no upright signs making drivers aware of the road layout like there is here on the A17 (not sure how legit these signs are, but they do the job).

I also cycled around the new cycle tracks. Unfortunately not all the cycle tracks are open yet, this causes an issue on the southern end where the only option is to use the A607 for a few hundred meters, which has no pavement and subjected to NSL. They really should of just opened the short link between Bloxholm Lane and the cycle path, even it is doesn't have its top layer on. Also other parts of the cycle track are covered in mud, and in one place has wooden boards all over it, while being covered in mud. REALLY REALLY bad and I hope by Monday they clear the path up.

Here is some media of it (I'll edit this post as they upload):
Driving Northbound
Driving Southbound
Cycling Northbound
Cycling Southbound
Photos taken from Brexit Bridge
Old Route Northbound
Old Route Southbound

[Nathan_A_RF]

First of all they are using "two-way traffic" warning signs at the end of the crawler lane, which is incorrect.

That's all wrong, signs diagrams 887-891 need to be used, for example this sign at the merge back to S2.

Also really don't like "Other main routes" being plastered everywhere; at least list the road numbers. RCSs that do tell you it's the A15 are too small also.

[darkcape]

Thanks for the videos,

- some of the mud on the NMU path or really bad and needs reporting, not acceptable to open in that state. They've used the path for access and been topsoiling in the wet, should've known better than to not clean it all up.
- the NMU route overall looks pretty good, apart from the roundabout crosdings which are awful.
- also signposts and lamp columns being positioned within the footway instead of behind the edging really annoys me.
- the NMU route also seems to be within the futureproofed areas in some sections which worries me if they widen it in future the path will go?
- clearly only some "futureproofing" has been included as some of the cuttings will need more taking out and a lot of the drainage is close to the carriageway

[jervi]

Also really don't like "Other main routes" being plastered everywhere; at least list the road numbers. RCSs that do tell you it's the A15 are too small also.

I do see why they have used "other main routes" on the signs, however the consistency is lacking somewhat. On the new bypass some of the signs say "All main routes", while some say "Other main routes". Other places in Lincoln just say "other routes" or "main routes", it seems a little lazy. What would be better is if they had signs that said "for Humber Bridge follow A15 N, for Inningham follow A46 N"... and then on the signs just show the route number and direction rather than all the destinations. Hopefully when the southern bypass happens, it can all be cleared up.
And the RCS are quite small as you say.
Also I have no idea why at almost every junction the destination of "South Lincoln" appears, and points in the Northerly direction. I'm not sure if this is a major mistake and meant to say "North Lincoln" or what!
Normally "Lincoln South" isn't a thing. There is North Lincoln, Central Lincoln/City Centre, Bracebridge (defaco south Lincoln), North Hykeham and Birchwood.

[Hdeng16]

Has anyone noticed the weird surfacing?

It’s hard to describe but it feels/sounds a bit like the old A1 sections where you effectively travel north on the old southbound carriageway - rough and noisy. Alternatively it feels like a wheel balancing issue on the car - but it’s only the bypass that causes it.

You can also see ridges on the tarmac(?) surfacing. It’s just a bit weird. Any thoughts?

Great bit of road though - really like the climbs up from the rivers - especially to the south.

[Fenlander]

Have they used the same egg shaped roller they did on parts of the A16 south from Sutterton roundabout towards Surfleet? The rippling there is very noticeable at speed and at slow speed you can easily see the surface distortion that causes it. A local tyre fitter said they regularly get people calling In after driving it thinking they’ve thrown a weight or had wheels go out of balance.

[Hdeng16]

Have they used the same egg shaped roller they did on parts of the A16 south from Sutterton roundabout towards Surfleet? The rippling there is very noticeable at speed and at slow speed you can easily see the surface distortion that causes it. A local tyre fitter said they regularly get people calling In after driving it thinking they’ve thrown a weight or had wheels go out of balance.

Sounds similar but I've not been down that way for a while to compare. It's just odd. Seemed to be mostly the section south of the river I believe. It's not terrible, but noticable.

[Bryn666]

First of all they are using "two-way traffic" warning signs at the end of the crawler lane, which is incorrect.

That's all wrong, signs diagrams 887-891 need to be used, for example this sign at the merge back to S2.

Also really don't like "Other main routes" being plastered everywhere; at least list the road numbers. RCSs that do tell you it's the A15 are too small also.

It's not a WS2+1, so no, it can't use those signs.

Slow handclap to Transport Scotland (for it was them) for introducing a different set of signs for a functionally identical road cross-section (you'll note WS2+1 has a 2m hatching between opposing flows, a conventional overtaking lane has a standard double white line.

[jervi]

I had a response from LCC yesterday saying they are investigating why the signs have been included in the design and that they will be in communication with Lincolnshire Road Safety Partnership in discussion in whether they will be removed.
Not entirely sure what they need to discuss though.

[jervi]

https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/ar ... es-planned

Remedial works are taking place on the new bypass, clearly things were rushed to have it opened by the end of last year.
Also the NMU bridge on the Southern end of the bypass isn't open yet, nor is the link between the bypass and NCN1, by the looks of it those will not open until the start of summer.

[AAndy]

The eastern bypass fully opened in December 2020 and I finally got around to using it last week. Videos;
Northbound:https://youtu.be/iR8tjjmDDzw
Southbound: https://youtu.be/RgEzOkQMZos

What a stunning perspective!

[Chris5156]

The eastern bypass fully opened in December 2020 and I finally got around to using it last week.

Never been on it, but your post prompted me to have a nose around on GSV.

I'm sure the signage strategy saved a lot of money on signs, but I can't say I find it very helpful. Most of the bypass seems to be signposted with neither places nor road numbers, making do with either "all main routes" or "other main routes". No thanks

[AAndy]

The eastern bypass fully opened in December 2020 and I finally got around to using it last week.

Never been on it, but your post prompted me to have a nose around on GSV.

I'm sure the signage strategy saved a lot of money on signs, but I can't say I find it very helpful. Most of the bypass seems to be signposted with neither places nor road numbers, making do with either "all main routes" or "other main routes". No thanks

Yes... the signage is noticeably different. Its like they are embarresed it is numbered the A15. One sign that did get it on the plate is small and with a lot of destinations... I liked it !!
Note: the A15 doesn't go to a lot of these places either. ...but bracketless and commonsense is good.