Bid for Lincoln brown tourist signs on the A1

— Updated on October 5 with more details and statements

A delegation from Lincoln will travel to the House of Commons on October 17 to make the case for brown tourist signs for the city on the A1.

Representatives from Lincolnshire County Council, Lincoln Cathedral, Lincoln BIG and the Lincolnshire LEP will join city MP Karl McCartney in the campaign.

The delegation will meet Mike Penning, Under-Secretary of State for Transport, after previous applications for brown signs failed to get past Department of Transport officials.

“It is great that the minister is willing to hear our case in person,” said Lincoln BIG Chief Executive Matt Corrigan said.

“There have been few issues that have been raised so often by Lincoln businesses as the need for the city to be properly signed as a tourist destination.

Corrigan explained that York, which is the same distance as Lincoln from the A1, has four motorway brown signs listing the city’s attractions.

In comparison, “when you go past Lincoln on the A1, there is just one small sign saying Air Museum,” he added.

“Quite frankly, the lack of a proper sign is insulting to a city with the depth of history and heritage that Lincoln has to offer.

“Our research suggests that other cathedral cities of a comparable size all benefit from proper brown signs.”

The delegation wants to point out that not to have proper tourist signage for Lincoln is, at best, confusing for motorist and, at worst, can be dangerous.

Lincoln MP Karl McCartney has been backing the campaign to get more brown tourism signs for the city on A1 this year.

“We hope to tell him about how important Lincoln is a tourist destination and the new investment that is planned,” McCartney said.

“Lincoln is a great historic city and deserves to be properly signed for the thousands of visitors which it receives each year,” he added.

Lincoln Cathedral Chief Executive Phil Hamlyn Williams feels that, at the very least, the cathedral should be signposted.

“What we are talking about is the finest Gothic building in the world. We get thousands of visitors each year, the majority of which travel by car, and we think that the lack of signage adds to Lincoln’s sense of isolation.

“Many people still have no idea where Lincoln is and not having signs compounds this problem,” Hamlyn explained.