Transport secretary Heidi Alexander has approved the legal orders for the North Hykeham relief road, giving Lincolnshire County Council powers to start construction.
The North Hykeham relief road project will form the final section of Lincoln鈥檚 ring road, with a new dual carriageway built linking the A46 Pennells roundabout to the Lincoln eastern bypass.
As part of the project, new roundabouts will be built at South Hykeham Road, Brant Road and Grantham Road. A number of bridges will also be constructed, including at Station Road and over the River Witham.
The scheme has been in planning for years and was subject to a public inquiry.
Lincolnshire County Council selected Balfour Beatty to build it back in April 2022 under a pre-construction services agreement. The company鈥檚 formal appointment as main contractor has yet to be ratified.
鈥淣ow that we've been given the all clear by government to move forward, the next step is to officially appoint a contractor,鈥� said Cllr Michael Cheyne, executive member for highways. 鈥淭his will be a topic of discussion at our highways and transport scrutiny committee meeting in December, and then voted on by executive in early January.鈥�
Once under way, construction is expected to take three years to complete.
The project, which was previously expected to cost between 拢180m and 拢208m, is now expected to cost between 拢203m and 拢218m. This increase in due to a number of changes to the scope of the project, the county council said. These include:
- Rare barbastelle bats in the area have meant that a fully grassed-over bridge near the South Hykeham section of the relief must be built to cater for the bats鈥� flight path. In addition, a bat tunnel at Somerton Gate Lane and a number of bat 鈥榟op-overs鈥� have been added to the scheme.
- Anglian Water has increased its fee for the diversion of their underground water and drainage infrastructure by 拢3.5m.
- The Sleaford Road roundabout section of the Lincoln eastern bypass is now to be dualled for 90 metres to make it easier for traffic to merge after the roundabout.
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