Lincoln Eastern Bypass works now beyond midway stage

The construction of the £120 million Lincoln Eastern Bypass is now beyond the half way point.

The 7.5km single carriageway road will link the A158 Wragby Road roundabout to the A15 at Bracebridge Heath.

It should cut congestion in the city centre and traffic on Broadgate is expected to be reduced by 25%.

The Lincoln Eastern Bypass project will be completed in May 2020 instead of the original planned date of December 2019.

It will also be over budget, costing £120 million instead of £99 million.

The project is part-funded by a £50m central government capital grant.

While the county council wanted to have the road with two carriageways in each direction, not enough central funding was granted.

Project progress by the numbers

Since the start of the project over 200 people have worked over 600,000 hours on the scheme, and the following has also been done:

• Nearly 1.4 million tonnes of soil and earth has been moved
• Over seven miles of drainage has been installed
• Over three miles of streetlight ducting has been installed
• 1,150 tonnes of steel and 14,000 tonnes of concrete have been used for bridges

The council has also worked closely with ecologists to minimise any disruption to wildlife in the area, including constructing badger tunnels, erecting bat boxes and creating a new habitat pond.

It has also caused road closures in Lincoln and the surrounding areas. Click here for information on the ongoing and upcoming future road closures.

‘Starting to take shape’

Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “I’m incredibly pleased to say we’re officially past the halfway point of construction of Lincoln’s new bypass.

“Not only are two of eight new bridges built, but the road itself is really starting to take shape. You can even see the imprint of the new Greetwell Road roundabout from above.

“And over the next six months, we’ll have the new roundabouts at Lincoln Road and Sleaford Road finished, along with the new Heighington Road bridge and Hawthorn Road footbridge.

“This project is a very complex piece of work, but the team is working hard to make sure it’s built to the high quality we expect.”

Collapse of contractors

The county council appointed Galliford Try last summer as the replacement firm to finish work on the project following the collapse of Carillion in January 2018.

The county council appointed a new subcontractor for the earthworks contract this Spring – Amery Construction Ltd took over from Hawk Plant Ltd, which collapsed into administration back in January 2019.

Councillor Davies added: “It won’t be long until people start seeing all of the benefits that the road will bring.

“Not only will there be less traffic congestion in and around Lincoln, but the bypass will also open up land for housing and economic developments around the city, adding roughly £600m to the county’s economy.

“Work on-site is progressing really well, and we’re still on-track for having the road ready to open next spring.”