| A16 road | |
|---|---|
| Route information | |
| Length: | 85 mi (137 km) |
| Major junctions | |
| South end: | Peterborough |
| North end: | Grimsby |
| Location | |
| Primary destinations: |
Spalding Boston |
| Road network | |
The A16 road is a principal road of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands region of England, connecting the port of Grimsby and Peterborough, where it meets the A1175, A47 & A1139 then on to the A1 and the A605 the latter, in turn, giving a through route to Northampton and the west, and south west of England. Its length is 85 miles (137 km).
From north to south its route is:
Although it has 'primary route' designation for its entire length virtually none of the A16 is dual carriageway and there are speed restrictions on much of it.
The 1-mile (1.6 km) £1.2 million Ludborough Bypass opened in November 1992. The 1-mile (1.6 km) Fotherby Bypass opened in 2004. The 3-mile (4.8 km) £6.6 million Louth Bypass opened in August 1991. The 1-mile (1.6 km) Partney Bypass opened in August 2005. From West Keal to Boston, the road is very flat. The 1-mile (1.6 km) £1 million Stickford Bypass opened in October 1992. The £1.4 million Boston Inner Relief Road opened in early 1978. There are demands for Boston to be bypassed. The 6-mile (9.7 km) £11.5 million Boston-Algarkirk Diversion opened in October 1991. The 11-mile (18 km) £23 million Spalding-Sutterton Improvement (the Spalding Bypass) opened in August 1995.
The route of the A16 has changed following the completion of the new Spalding-Peterborough link road. The section between Spalding to the south of Crowland only, opened in August 2010; the remainder was completed in October 2011. The new route has taken the number A16, effectively linking the route with Peterborough, with the current road from Spalding to Stamford becoming the A1175.[1]
This new section replaced the A1073 road, a road that ran between the former A16 at 0.81 miles (1.3 km) south of Spalding in Lincolnshire and the A47 between Eye and Eye Green at in Cambridgeshire.
The A1073 route had become increasingly dangerous over the years because traffic usage had increased. It was narrow with many blind corners and slopes, and much of it was on an embankment with deep ditches either side and no run-off areas. There were dangerous junctions, particularly with the B1443 between Peakirk and Thorney, which formed a staggered crossroads. The road was a principal route servicing the food-processing industry in Spalding, bringing in supplies and moving products to the supermarket distribution system to the south.
An upgrade to the route had been under discussion for many years. The main hold-up was arguments over funding between Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and the Department for Transport, exacerbated by the actions of a former Leader of Lincolnshire County Council who went to jail for seeking to influence the route to his own financial advantage.[2] Eventually a route was agreed, avoiding Cowbit and Crowland and joining the A47 west of Eye, and in 2008 construction work began, originally due to be completed by Autumn 2010.[3][4]
The Northern 8.3 miles (13.4 km) of the new route opened between Spalding and the roundabout south of Crowland in Autumn 2010, with the opening of the Southern 4.8 miles (7.7 km) delayed due to structural problems at the embankment at Car Dyke Bridge. On completion of remedial repairs and the opening of the Southern portion on 16 October 2011, the new road was renumbered to form part of the A16; the original A1073 alignment between Spalding and Eye Green became an unclassified local road.[1]
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