Lincolnshire Coastal Highway: Progress following '˜engagement meetings'

A series of meetings have been held this week to discuss plans for the proposed '˜Lincolnshire Coastal Highway', which could open up new tourism opportunities and better access between the Lincoln area and the East Lincolnshire coast.
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The meetings, which took place in Skegness, Wragby, Lincoln and Horncastle earlier this week, saw key stakeholders discuss potential improvements to transport corridors accessing to the county’s coast.

Prior to the events, Lincolnshire County Council confirmed that the Lincolnshire Coastal Highway runs from the A1 along the A46 to Lincoln and then through the A158 to Skegness. It also includes the A57 from the county boundary to where it joins the A46 in Lincoln.

Among those in attendance were local representatives including county, district and parish councillors, businesses, bus operators, and organisations such as the NFU, Lincoln BIG, Sustrans, and the Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust.

Coun Richard Davies, executive member for highways, said: “This week’s sessions went really well and we received a lot of great feedback that will really bolster the challenges, opportunities and potential solutions we’ve already identified.

“In total, we had over 80 attendees turn up across the four events to highlight any local or industry challenges along the route, as well as giving insight into how sections of the corridor could be upgraded and improved from an economic, transport and highways perspective.

“Now that we have a diverse longlist of potential upgrades to sections of the route, including improved signage, adding overtaking opportunities, making the route more cycle-friendly and reducing congestion at key pinch points, we’ll start sifting through these to create a shortlist of projects to carry forward.

“The final stage will be creating an overall strategy for the corridor ahead of identifying funding opportunities so improvements can be made.

“We really want to stress that this project is in its very early stages and, until we have a final plan in place for the corridor, it’s impossible to say how much will be spent on improvements to the Lincolnshire Coastal Highway. This will be dependent on what potential projects come out of the research we’re carrying out, as well as what type of funding opportunities are available in the future.”

The Lincolnshire Coastal Highway would support a range of economic sectors, both across the county and locally, and provide different benefits to different parts of the economy.

Coun Davies added: “In this time of uncertainty, the role that transport can play in supporting balanced growth, securing development and providing access and connectivity for both communities and businesses is vital to the future of both national and local economies.”

• For more information about the Lincolnshire Coastal Highway and other major highways projects, visit www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/majorprojects.