Months of road closures as new date set at major Lincoln Eastern Bypass location

Drivers in Lincoln will face several months of disruption when a major location closes for work on the £120 million Lincoln Eastern Bypass project.

Hawthorn Road will close from Monday, January 27 with a diversion route in place via Bunkers Hill/A158/Kennel Lane, and vice versa. This is instead of the initial planned date of December 2.

Access will be maintained for pedestrians, cyclists and others not in motorised vehicles during the road closure via the new footbridge. The footbridge was put in place in November 2019 and will link the two sides of Hawthorn Road.

In addition, the Hawthorn Road/St Augustine Road junction will be fully closed from Monday, February 3 to Thursday, April 9, with a local diversion in place.

Hawthorn Road diversion map. Photo: LCC

Once the bypass officially opens, a new road layout will be in place giving road users access to Hawthorn Road east from the new bypass, but with a permanent closure of Hawthorn Road from the west for drivers.

Meanwhile, Heighington Road is expected to re-open on Friday, January 31 subject to suitable weather conditions. This is instead of the initial planned date of December 20.

Washingborough Road is due to close in February, instead of the initial planned date of early January, but the exact details are still being finalised.

The overall project will be completed in May 2020 instead of the original planned date of December 2019, and it will also be over budget, costing £120 million instead of £99 million.

Lincolnshire County Council’s highways boss recently said he is “extremely relaxed” when it comes to potential delays to the project caused by recent wet weather.