March 22, 2013 11.14 am This story is over 131 months old

Thornbridge car park reopening delayed due to weather

Weather delays: Thorngate car park over the Lincoln central bus station will remain closed for longer than expected after recent cold weather delayed resurfacing work.

Thornbridge car park over the Lincoln central bus station will remain closed for longer than expected after recent cold weather delayed resurfacing work.

The snow and low temperatures has meant the waterproof membrane could not be laid, pushing the completion time back.

Owners of the parking facility, the City of Lincoln Council, are looking at ways with the contractor, Lindum Construction, to minimise the time Thornbridge stays closed.

The City Council considered delaying the £1.1 million 20-week works to Lucy Tower Car Park, but engineers advised them not to put work back. Work is set to begin on Lucy Tower from March 25.

Steve Bird, Assistant Director of Community at the City Council, said: “It is a serious understatement to say that it is very disappointing that the snow has delayed completion, but we are working hard with the contractors to look at ways we can finish Thornbridge as soon as possible.

“The original plans phased works on our car parks to ensure that they weren’t closed at the same time, but the extreme weather, has caused us an unexpected problem.

Thornbridge car park works

“Following meetings with structural engineers and contractors, we have very reluctantly had to accept that we now have no choice but to close both car parks at the same time.

“We appreciate this is an inconvenience and apologise for having to have both sites closed at once, but trust that people will understand the problem caused by the weather, and that we have no choice.

“We have tried to schedule works at a time to cause the least impact, accepting that there is no good time to close a car park, and now been caught out by things that are beyond our control. It is just very unfortunate the snow came at this crucial stage of the works.

“We can only apologise for this delay in reopening the car park, but want to assure people we are doing everything in our power to get this site finished as soon as possible.”

Thornbridge closed in February so it could be resurfaced, as some areas were damaged. The work will cost £400,000 from start to finish.