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A17

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A17
Location Map ( geo)
Cameraicon.png View gallery (20)
From:  King's Lynn (TF607187)
To:  Newark-on-Trent (SK815559)
Distance:  59.5 miles (95.8 km)
Meets:  A47, A1101, B1359, B1390, B1515, B1168, A151, B1357, A16, B1397, B1181, A52, A1121, B1395, B1394, A153, A15, B1518, B1429, A46
Old route now:  A47
Primary Destinations
Highway Authorities

Lincolnshire • Norfolk • Nottinghamshire

Traditional Counties

Lincolnshire • Norfolk • Nottinghamshire

Route outline (key)
A17 Swaffham – King's Lynn
A17 King's Lynn – Winthorpe (Newark)
A17 Coddington – Newark-on-Trent

Route

The A17 is the major route from northern England to Norfolk. Although horrendously busy during the summer months as the only route from the North to Great Yarmouth, the Broads, and other tourist hotspots, it is mostly pretty fast, the fact that very little of it has been dualled notwithstanding; most of its bypasses have been completed as high-quality single carriageways. If you want exciting scenery, the A17 is probably not for you - for nearly its entire length it runs across the Lincolnshire Fens - an artificial landscape, only fully reclaimed from the sea in the last three centuries - and it is consequently flat mostly made up of straight lines. It is, however, quite rare in being one of only sixteen F99 roads which have the distinction of being a green-signed primary route throughout its entire length (the others being A12, A14, A16, A22, A42, A43, A45, A53, A55, A75, A78, A83, A84, A86, and A87)

King's Lynn – Sutterton

The A17 originally started on the A47 to the west of Swaffham, but following the diversion of the A47 via King's Lynn, it now starts on that road at King's Lynn. King’s Lynn in particular was always a notorious bottleneck – the need to skirt round the Wash meant that the only two realistic routes from the Midlands and North of England to Norfolk converged just to the west of the bridge over the Great Ouse. No diversion was possible to the north, as this was, and is, the last crossing of the river before the Wash. A journey from Lincoln to Cromer is just over 100 miles – but only about than 60 as the crow – or seagull? – flies. To the south would require a long detour through Downham Market. Thus although traffic levels are relatively light (the A17 is single carriageway for almost its entire length, and even the short dualled sections near some junctions have been reduced to a single lane in each direction thereby reducing overtaking opportunities), the link is vitally important to that traffic.

The A17 does not actually start in King's Lynn but on the bypass to the west of town and is reached from there by means of the A47. The present A47 crossing of the Great Ouse is a little to the south of the original bridge, and follows the line of the old Midland & Great Northern Joint Railway, which closed in 1959.

Immediately after the Great Ouse bridge, there is a TOTSO, the A47 turning off left for Wisbech and ultimately Birmingham, whilst the A17 takes the straight ahead route. Although there is provision in the junction for a future underpass, A17 traffic currently also has to use the roundabout. The A17 continues on the line of the M&GN all the way to Sutton Bridge, bypassing Terrington St Clement and forsaking Norfolk for Lincolnshire, in which it remains for almost all the rest of its route. This area, with its flat landscape, artificial land drainage systems, small villages, and over-large churches indicative of past prosperity, is well described in Dorothy Sayers's Lord Peter Wimsey murder mystery, "The Nine Tailors", in which campanology plays a crucial part in both the identification of the victim and the bizarre manner of his death.

Sutton Bridge was a railway junction, trains for Peterborough via Wisbech turning south along the River Nene whilst the main line to Spalding and Bourne carried straight on. The line of the railway running parallel to and just to the south of the old A17, can be seen on the aerial photograph here. Indeed, the swing bridge over the River Nene is currently D1, which can be explained by the fact that the bridge took both road and railway across the river. The present A17 now follows neither railway line, instead taking a dogleg along the bank of the Nene for a few hundred yards of dual carriageway, also visible in the aerial photograph, and then turns west again as the bypass of Sutton Bridge and Long Sutton villages, meeting the A1101 from Wisbech en route.

Part of the original A17 through Long Sutton is now the B1359, which cannons off the A17 at Gedney on its way to Gedney Drove End (a real "road to nowhere").

A short stretch of dual carriageway prefaces the single carriageway Holbeach bypass (the original route through the town is now the B1515), and the A17 then meets the A151 which gives access to Spalding, Bourne and the A1 at Colsterworth.

A16 – Sleaford

As the A17 rounds the Wash, it has now turned nearly due northwards as it runs towards Fosdyke and the bridge over the River Welland, before curving round to the west again to meet the A16 near Sutterton. The A16 and A17 used to meet in Sutterton itself, but both have been diverted onto new alignments – the A16 following the former Spalding to Boston section of the Great Northern Railway, whilst the A17, after crossing the A16, takes a bypass to the south and west of Sutterton and Wigtoft. It then returns to its original alignment, heading north again, to Bicker Bar where it meets the A52, nearing the end of its long odyssey from North Staffordshire to the east coast.

At Swineshead the A17 meets the A1121, coming across from Boston along the side of the South Forty Foot Drain before turning west again for Heckington and its distinctive eight-sailed windmill, which are bypassed to the north (the original A17 is now the B1394).

At Kirkby la Thorpe begins the Sleaford bypass, at 3.3 miles long the longest dual carriageway section of the A17, which even has a couple of grade separated junctions, one with the B1517 and the next with the A153. Just after the beginning of the bypass we encounter something not seen before on this journey – a contour line!

Sleaford Bypass

Sleaford – Newark

The A17 and A15 originally left Sleaford together in a multiplex as far as Holdingham, but as both roads now bypass the town that road is now the B1518. The bypass ends where the multiplex ended, at the junction with the A15. Whilst the A15 heads north to Lincoln and the Humber, the A17 now continues west past the RAF's Officer Training college at Cranwell (Lincolnshire's location and topography have resulted in a long association with the RAF) to Byards Leap, where it crosses the old Roman Ermine Street (High Dyke). The original kink in the A17 here has been eliminated as the High Dyke is no longer the major road.

The A17 bypasses to the south of Leadenham. What happens next is a bit of a surprise to anyone who knows Lincolnshire’s reputation for flatness, as the A17 suddenly descends a 300-foot escarpment. It has been gently climbing the dip slope of the Lincoln Edge ever since that contour at Sleaford, and now its payback time! Impressive though it is, it provides no direct interchange with the A607 Lincoln to Grantham road which passes over the A17 at this point. The only communication between them is by taking the old road into Leadenham.

The Leadenham bypass, which is the modern route of the A17 here, descending down the escarpment is a rather fine piece of road. Considering how flat Lincolnshire is supposed to be, the steepness of the hill at Leadenham on the old road can come as a shock, but of course, Lincolnshire isn't actually completely flat!

Having rejoined its original route after all this excitement, the A17 returns almost to sea level for the rest of the run to Newark, crossing the River Brant at Brant Broughton, and the Witham at Beckingham (honoured with a dual carriageway bypass). These two rivers, although west of the scarp and seemingly in the Vale of Trent, converge at Lincoln where they turn east through a gap in the ridge to reach the Wash at Boston.

Just after Beckingham, the A17 crosses the county boundary into Nottinghamshire. The original route into Newark ran through Coddington, to end on Queens Road at the junction with Northgate (then A46, now the B6166). After construction of the A1 Newark bypass this terminus was officially in the 6-zone. However, when the western and northern bypasses were built, the A17 was diverted to its present terminus at the A1/A46 junction near Winthorpe.

I'll give the last word to the A17's champion, Bob Sykes: "Compared to some major trunk routes with narrow twisty sections, limited overtaking opportunities, continuous flow of 30 limit villages, the A17 is a joy. Just avoid it on summer Saturdays."

History

A17 historic route from 1923 numbering

In the original (1922) list, the A17 ran almost as far as Swaffham, 12 miles to the south-east of its current starting point, along what it now the A47. When that road was rerouted to King's Lynn 1st April 1933, however, the A17 was curtailed to its current starting point, with the A47 taking over those 12 miles.


Opening dates

Leadenham bypass

A Leadenham bypass was first proposed in the late 1930s, but was cancelled in 1940 due to the war. Had it been built it would have cost £16000 at the time 1.

The modern A17 Leadenham Bypass was originally planned to pass to the north of the village, and was shown as under construction on that alignment in several atlases and maps during the 1990s 2, many showing the bypass as dual carriageway with access to the A607. In 1985 estimates costed a bypass to the north of the village at £3M (1984 prices) 3. The bypass was eventually built to the south of the village to an S2+1 standard, with no access to the A607. The 2.7 mile road was opened on 10 March 1995 by Douglas Hogg, MP for Grantham and Sleaford, at a cost of £3.325 million.

Sleaford Northern Bypass

Stage 1: The western section from Holdingham Roundabout (A15) to Sleaford Rugby Club Junction (A153) was due to be opened on 14 November 1973. The 1.4 mile section had, for a period, just one carriageway in operation. It became fully dual carriageway when the eastern section opened on 27 March 1975.

Stage 2: The eastern section from Sleaford Rugby Club Junction (A153) to 340m west of Mount Lane, Kirkby-la-Thorpe was opened on 27 March 1975 by Joseph Godber, Grantham Division MP. 1.5 mile dual carriageway. This completed the bypass. Contractor was Kesteven County Council, forecast cost £1.75 million.

Swineshead Bypass

The 2.5 mile road from Gypsy Lane to South Street (south of Bicker Bar) was opened on 3 May 1985. Contractor was Henry Boot Civil Engineers, cost £2.5 million.

Sutterton and Wigtoft Bypass

The 2.7 mile single carriageway road from Clover Lane, Wigtoft to Sutterton Roundabout was opened on 30 June 1995 by Lawrie Haynes, Highways Agency Chief Executive. Contractor was May Gurney, tender cost £4.4 million, total cost £8.1 million.

Fosdyke Bridge

The 3 span bridge over the River Welland, together with 150m road re-alignment either side, was opened in 1990. See Fosdyke Bridge page for further detail.

Fleet Hargate Diversion

The road from 100m west of Winslow Gate to Tops Gate was opened on 24 January 1974. 24 foot carriageway, with a short link to A151. Contractor was Dredging and Construction Co. Ltd., tender price £151,813.

Detrunking

The entire A17 was detrunked in 2002, and responsibility for the road was transferred to the three counties through which it runs.

Links

Daily Telegraph

Sources

Videos

Holdingham Roundabout - Artists Impression

Take a look at what the improved Holdingham Roundabout will look like once works are complete at the end of 2021.

Watch video > >

Holdingham Roundabout from the Air

Holdingham Roundabout was improved in 2020/1 by rebuilding the roundabout and installing traffic signals on most arms. Here is what the junction looks like in Feb 2022.

Watch video > >

Bonemill Junction (Sleaford Rugby Club) from the Air

In 2020 the junction of the A17 and A153 was improved by replacing the priority junction at the Westbound Sliproad & A153 with a traffic signal controlled junction. This is what the junction looks like in Feb 2022.

Watch video > >




A17
Junctions
Services
Crossings
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Places
Related Pictures
View gallery (20)
A17 Leadenham - Coppermine - 13683.jpgNewark AA78.jpgThe River Witham below Beckingham Bridge (C) Tim Heaton - Geograph - 4081871.jpgByard's leap - Geograph - 1985195.jpgSutterton Roundabout A16, A17 - Geograph - 2392038.jpg
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