August 30, 2019 4.33 pm This story is over 56 months old

New plans revealed for Toll Bar roundabout following “immediate halt”

A new plan for the roundabout will be voted on
Toll Bar roundabout near Grimsby. Photo: Google Street View

New plans have been revealed for Toll Bar roundabout, three months after previous proposals were put on hold.

Council leaders will vote on proposals to build a signalised toucan crossing at the northern junction of the A16 Louth Road near the junction with Toll Bar.

If approved, North East Lincolnshire Council will construct the crossing during the October half term before looking at long term solutions for traffic in the area.

The controversial plan to replace the roundabout with traffic lights attracted concern over safety of children at the nearby Toll Bar Academy, pedestrians and cyclists.

However, the plan was put on hold following the election of a new administration at the local elections.

Senior councillors will vote on the revised proposals at a special cabinet meeting on September 9.

North East Lincolnshire Council leader, Philip Jackson. Picture: Calvin Robinson.

Philip Jackson, leader of the authority, said he was “confident” that the revised plan would deal with “short term safety issues”.

“When we took control of the council in May, we paused the previous plans and promised we would listen to local people and instigate a review of the previously approved scheme and this is exactly what we’ve done,” he said.

“The roundabout is still in place and careful and detailed work has been going on behind the scenes to evaluate the best way forward.

“The situation is complex, as we always knew it would be, but we’re confident that if we go ahead with the proposals, it will deal with the short term road safety issues and also allow us sufficient time to further and fully investigate options going forward.”

Toll Bar campaigners Anne and Peter Herring, Michael O’bee, David Cowell and campaign lead Roger Breed. Photo: Daniel Jaines

The £2.2 million plans to rip up the roundabout and replace it with traffic lights proved controversial in the past.

It attracted petitions of more than 10,000 signatures, with one campaign leading to the project being halted back in March.

Previous administrations said other options for the roundabout were “not feasible” and pushed ahead with the proposals.

Previous Labour leader of the council, Ray Oxby, said the authority took the “most reasonable, practicable” option for the roundabout from the evidence it had.

But new Conservative leader of the authority, Councillor Jackson, put an immediate halt on the proposal when his party took control of the council following the local elections in May.

Councillor Stewart Swinburn, portfolio holder for environment and transport at North East Lincolnshire Council. Picture: NELC.

Councillor Stewart Swinburn, cabinet member for transport and environment, said a long term report on the roundabout was expected in the “coming months”.

“We expect a further report on the longer term options to deal with congestion and the planned growth in the area to come back to cabinet in the next few months, but it’s clear certain steps need to be taken as soon as is practical to deal with things as they are now, ‘’ he said.

“The current situation of informal crossing for pedestrians and cyclists is not really acceptable and we want to do all we can to avoid any potential casualties or collisions; as such we think this improvement will assist in that, while we work with officers, partners and the local community in coming up with the best long term solution.’’

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