B1397
B1397 | |||||||
Location Map ( geo) | |||||||
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From: | Dowsby (TF113295) | ||||||
To: | Skirbeck Quarter, Boston (TF324427) | ||||||
Distance: | 18.2 miles (29.3 km) | ||||||
Meets: | B1177, A152, A17, B1192, A16, B1391, A16 | ||||||
Former Number(s): | A16 | ||||||
Highway Authorities | |||||||
Traditional Counties | |||||||
Route outline (key) | |||||||
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For the original, a short link road in Woodhall Spa, see B1397 (Woodhall Spa).
The B1397 is a medium-length B-road in east Lincolnshire. The number originally came to the area in 1935.
The road starts on the B1177 in Dowsby and heads east, winding onto Dowsby Fen. The road now becomes more-or-less straight and we continue across the South Forty Foot Drain before running alongside the Risegate Eau. Presently the road reaches Gosberton Clough, which merges into Risegate. These villages straddle the watercourse, with a road on both sides.
After crossing the Spalding to Sleaford railway line at a level crossing the road crosses the Eau to reach Gosberton and the A152. Originally the B1397 ended here but following the construction of the current route of the A16 in the 1980s and 1990s the B1397 was extended along the bypassed route. It would appear that this number was planned for the pre-bypass road from the outset as the section of new A16 north of the A17 opened a few years before the southern section, meaning that the B1397 was in two separate chunks for this period.
So, after a short multiplex east along the A152 the B1397 turns left to regain its number at a junction that still retains its A16-era priority. We head northeast across the fields, now no longer straight but no longer completely flat either. After a couple of miles we cross the A17 at a junction which was a straight crossroads in A16 days but which has now been staggered. On the far side we enter Sutterton, where we cross an unexpected roundabout on the village green.
After going through Strugg's Hill (a place name that requires imagination) we reach Kirton. The B1192 comes in from the left by the church and then a spur of the B1397 turns off to the right to a roundabout on the A16. Continuing on the mainline there's a brief rural section before we reach Wyberton and then merge into the southern suburbs of Boston. The road ends at a roundabout on the A16 just south of the South Forty Foot Drain.