Spalding relief road work delayed until 2030 after money diverted

The relief road project aims to connect Pinchbeck to Spalding Common, bypassing the town centre

A major project to alleviate traffic in a Lincolnshire town is facing a significant delay.

Lincolnshire County Council said work on the southern section of the Spalding Western Relief Road scheme was now unlikely to start before 2030.

It follows the council's decision to reallocate nearly £28m of funding earlier this year.

The relief road project aims to provide a new route around the town, bypassing the town centre.

Richard Davies, the authority's executive member for highways, attributed the delay to a "turbulent" three years marked by increased costs due to Covid, rising inflation rates and the current economic climate.

"Regrettably, these and other factors led us to announce during our annual budget meeting in February that we had to redirect the £27.8m of county council funding earmarked for the Spalding Western Relief Road's southern section to cover increased costs for other major road projects," he said.

"This implies that we probably won't commence work before 2030, which is the earliest we anticipate being able to allocate funding towards this phase of the project."

Funding earmarked for the scheme has been diverted to other projects

Mr Davies told BBC Radio Lincolnshire the money was being used on schemes where it would see "tangible benefits", adding that it was not yet known where funding for the central section of the Spalding scheme would come from.

"The southern section of the Spalding Western Relief Road in of itself doesn't create any benefit other than to those houses that are being built off it," he said.

"Longer term when the road is complete all the way through then there will be a real benefit to Spalding - no doubt about it," he added.

He said the council's current focus was on constructing abutments and piers to support the road on the north section and lifting beams into place to build the bridge deck, with work expected to be completed by summer 2024, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.