December 13, 2013 2.43 pm This story is over 123 months old

Public inquiry set for major Lincoln road developments

Extra scrutiny: The government will hold two public inquiries into the development of two major Lincoln roads: the Eastern Bypass and the East West Link Road.
A bridged section of the new bypass, going over the River Witham and South Delph, towards Washingborough.
A bridged section of the Lincoln Eastern Bypass, going over the River Witham and South Delph, towards Washingborough.

The government will hold two public inquiries into the development of two major Lincoln roads: the Eastern Bypass and the East West Link Road.

The projects, set to begin in 2014, will be looked into by government officials through February and March next year.

The inquiries will look into a number of objections from residents on the road developments in Lincoln and how they would be affected.

The Secretary of State has appointed an inspector to hold the inquiries.

A first meeting with those who objected to the Lincoln Eastern Bypass will be held at 10am on February 4 at the Bentley Hotel on Newark Road.

For the Eastern Bypass, one of the issues the inspector will look into is the proposed closure of Hawthorn Road, to be replaced with a footbridge.

Councillor Richard Davies, Executive Member for Highways at Lincolnshire County Council, said: “As we expected there has been a lot of interest in both the Lincoln Eastern Bypass and East-West Link Road.

“Projects of this scale often involve public inquiries and we very much welcome the interest of the local community and I hope that their concerns can be properly addressed.

“I can’t pre-empt the recommendations or duration of an inquiry, but we expected that there would be one and have built extra time into the project schedule to allow for this.”

It’s unclear whether the public inquiries will delay the start of the works at this stage. Work on the Eastern Bypass is set to start in late 2014, while the East West Link Road is set to start in August 2014.

The plans for the Lincoln East West Link Road.

The plans for the Lincoln East West Link Road.

The East West Link Road will link the High Street at the junction with Tentercroft Street to Pelham Bridge and Canwick Road, allowing drivers to avoid the High Street level crossing.

The project will open up Tentercroft Street and the former coal yard for regeneration and will also enable the pedestrianisation of the High Street between Tentercroft Street and St Mary’s Street.

The Eastern Bypass is meant to provide the necessary infrastructure improvements that will support the city’s future growth and reduce traffic congestion in Lincoln.