EDITOR – I note from your article Lincolnshire County Council are again ignoring the needs of local businesses, residents and motorists by closing the road whilst they rebuild the bridge at Horse Fen.
A repetition of the fiasco at Salfleet a year ago!
The cost of a temporary bridge being cited as the reason for not using that alternative. Well like last time LCC, there is a Bailey type bridge at Croft Government Surplus warehouse which may be
suitable with a very reasonable price tag!
As I suggested last time around, why not think ahead and buy one of these well-made-at-enormous-cost-to-the-British-taxpayer, bargains.
Thus avoiding placing the cost of your incompetent management on to Lincolnshire's motorists, residents and businesses by lengthy and prolonged diversions. During the Saltfleet closure, I, as a casual user, probably spent the best part of £100 in additional costs navigating the diversions.
Multiply that by the volume of traffic, large and small inconvenienced and saddled with costs not of their making, and you have a sum probably greater than the total cost of the project!
It is high time both district and county councils started acting in the interests of their residents rather than those of their officers.
It occurred to me whilst driving over this bridge, which is in itself on a bottleneck bend, a solution that would obviate the need for a road closure or a temporary bridge. It would improve road safety by cutting out the bottleneck and bend and could be accomplished with no road closure!
Simple really, make a slight diversion to the road across the bend, build a completely new bridge across the bend thus straightening it out and while this occurs leave the old bit of road and bridge functional until the the new bit is completed. Probably need a little co-operation of the land owner but they would suffer no loss of land as it would simply be a moving over of the road and making good the area the old bridge sits on when the job was completed and as they say it's not rocket science, is it?
Of course, the residents and businesses would not suffer hardship and the alternative routes for the diversions would not become mud baths as happened at Saltfleet!
Chris Beal
Old Post Office,
South Somercores
