Three contractors bid for £10m part of Lincoln East West Link Road project

Three contractors have been shortlisted and submitted their bids for a £10 million share of the £22 million East West Link Road project in Lincoln.

The East West Link Road will connect Tentercroft Street to Canwick Road and create an alternative route for cars away from the High Street level crossing, which will become increasingly more congested as Network Rail increase the volume of freight traffic passing through Lincoln city centre.

Three contractors have been invited to submit a tender: Balfour Beatty, Galliford Try/Aggregate Industries joint venture and Carillion/Lafarge Tarmac joint venture.

They had until August 26 to submit their bids before a full tender appraisal has been completed by Lincolnshire County Council. The “most advantageous” tender will win.

All of the contractors have prequalified for the Midlands Highways Alliance and are considered to be “eminently suitable” for this type of works.

The main contract includes earthworks, drainage, new highway, structures, street lighting and signs and markings.

It also includes the replacement building at the corner of the High Street and Tentercroft Street, which housed Gadsby’s art supplies store and Bridge McFarland Solicitors (who now moved on the High Street). Work has already started at the site to demolish the building.

The main £9.45 million contract covers all of the main aspects of the scheme with the exception of the traffic signals installation, which will be undertaken by LCC’s specialist contractor Imtech at a cost of £350,000.

Included in the total £22 million East West Link Road project are £850,000 design costs, £220,000 legal costs, £923,000 utility diversions costs (carried out by owning utility companies), land costs of £6.7 million, and £680,000 for site supervision.

The County Council also moved some £1.5 million from this budget towards contingency costs for the next large upcoming road scheme on Canwick Road.

Once the main contractor is selected, the project will take two years to complete.