Drivers in Lincolnshire will face disruption from February as part of a ten-month improvement project at one of the county’s busiest junctions, the A15/17 Sleaford Holdingham Roundabout.
The project will see new approach lanes and traffic signals installed. Work is expected to start on Monday, February 15, subject to suitable weather.
The overall project is expected to be completed in December 2021, ahead of the Christmas period, but the council will try to finish sooner if possible.
As part of the work, drivers can expect a combination of 24/7 narrow lanes and lane closures, along with a series of night-time temporary traffic signals, full road and roundabout closures as and when needed.
In February, a westbound night-time road closure on the A17 East (towards Holdingham Roundabout) will be in place for two evenings, from 9pm to 5.30am, starting on Monday, February 22.
The diversion route will be via the A52 westbound and the A15 northbound, and vice versa.
A temporary 30mph speed limit will also be in place when approaching and exiting the roundabout from all directions throughout the entire project.
Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “Following on from our successful improvement scheme at the A17/A153 Sleaford Rugby Club junction, we’re just one month away from starting work at Holdingham Roundabout – the second half of these crucial Sleaford highway improvements.
“As part of the project, we’ll be working to install additional lanes at each approach to Holdingham Roundabout, along with installing traffic signals at most of the entries onto the roundabout.
“These changes will not only help ease congestion here, but they will also improve safety for everyone using the roundabout.”
Pat Doody, Chair of the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, said: “The Holdingham Roundabout upgrade is the second of two key strategic junction improvements in Sleaford supported in 2020/21 by the Greater Lincolnshire LEP which have a critical role to play in unlocking future growth potential in the town.
“Our £1.1m contribution towards this project will enable Sustainable Urban Extension delivery in the area to be realised, ultimately resulting in the creation of over 4,000 new homes.”
The £8.25m A17/A153 Rugby Club Junction/A17 Holdingham Roundabout scheme is being funded by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, North Kesteven District Council, Lincolnshire County Council and developer contributions.
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A 38-year-old man from a North Lincolnshire village charged with murder will face an eight-day trial later this year.
Emergency services were called at 4.23am on Saturday, July 2 to reports that a man was seriously injured on South Parade in central Doncaster.
The 28-year-old victim was taken to hospital but was sadly pronounced dead a short time later.
A post-mortem examination found that he died of injuries to his head, chest and abdomen.
Formal identification of the victim is yet to take place, South Yorkshire Police said earlier this week.
Steven Ling, 38, of Park Drain, Westwoodside in North Lincolnshire, has been charged with murder and was remanded in custody to appear at Doncaster Magistrates Court on Monday, July 4.
Ling later appeared at Sheffield Crown Court on Tuesday, July 5 for a plea and trial preparation hearing.
No pleas were entered during the hearing, but an eight-day trial was set for November 28, 2022. Ling has now been remanded into custody until the next hearing.
The Lincolnite went on a ride-along with a Lincolnshire Police officer from the force’s Roads Policing Unit (RPU), which aims to disrupt criminals’ use of the roads and reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents.
The team will support the county response including local policing, neighbourhood policing and criminal investigation too.
Operations first began in Grantham in January this year and started in Louth earlier this week with a sergeant and nine PCs based in both locations.
The Lincolnite went out on a ride-along with PC Rich Precious from Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
PC Rich Precious has been a police officer for 22 years after joining the force in 2000 and he recently rejoined the Roads Policing Unit, working out of Louth.
PC Precious, who also previously worked as a family liaison officer for road deaths for 16 years, took The Lincolnite out in his police car to the A1 up to Colsteworth and then back to Grantham. He described that particular area as “one of the main arterial routes that goes through Lincolnshire”.
PC Rich Precious driving down the A1 up to Colsterworth. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Speaking about the new Roads Policing Unit, he said: “It’s intelligence led policing, it’s targeted policing in areas that have been underrepresented in terms of police presence, on the roads certainly, over a number of years.
“We’re hoping that the development of this unit will help address that balance, and look towards using the ANPR system to prevent criminals’ use of the road, and to identify key areas or routes where there’s a high percentage of people killed or seriously injured on the road, what we commonly refer to as KSI.
PC Precious is helping to keep the roads safer in Lincolnshire. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
When asked if he thinks the new team will help reduce the number of serious and fatal accidents in the county, he added: “That’s what the the unit designed for. Sadly, in Lincolnshire our road network does seem to incur a number of those KSI accidents year on year, and we need to reduce that.
“I’ve worked additionally in my roles as a family liaison officer on road death for 16 years, so I’ve seen first hand the impact that road death has on families and victims families.
“I know it’s important that we try and reduce those because, it’s very sad to see how a fatal road traffic collision can affect a family and the victims of that family.”
Marc Gee, Inspector for Lincolnshire Police’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite
Marc Gee, Inspector for the Roads Policing Unit, told The Lincolnite: “Every day there will be officers on duty from both teams and they’ll cover the whole county or the county’s roads.
“Eventually, we’ll have nine police cars and we’ve got six motorbikes. We’ll be utilising them with as many officers as we can every day basically to make our roads safer and enforce against the criminals who feel like it’s okay to come into the county and use our road for criminal purposes.”
Lincolnshire’s Police and Crime Commissioner Marc Jones at the launch of the force’s Roads Policing Unit. | Photo: Steve Smailes for The Lincolnite