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Public clash with highways bosses over A1 safety

Harry Parkhill
BBC News
BBC A picture looking down on to the dual carriage way shows a blue car waiting at a junction on the the right side of the road, waiting to cross to a gap in the central reservation where another silver car is preparing to pull on to the the dual carriageway. Multiple cars on the left lane are blurred in the picture as they drive up away from the camera. BBC
The A1 has dozens of crossings like this on Lincolnshire's section of the major road

Plans to remove "dangerous and mad" crossings on the A1 attracted a mixed reaction when they were debated at a public meeting.

Dozens of gaps in the central reservation of the dual carriageway in Lincolnshire require vehicles to cross multiple lanes of traffic to reach the other side.

National Highways, which attended the meeting in Grantham on Tuesday, previously said it planned to close 16 of the crossings to improve safety.

However, residents raised concerns that it would make journeys longer.

dozens of people at a public meeting in a hotel room with large wooden rafters
The public asked highways bosses questions about the future of the A1 at a public meeting

Alastair Ross, from Marston near Grantham, said closing crossings would cause a 5.5 mile (9km) detour for people living in his village.

"If you roughly work that out and everyone does that journey once a day, that's £400 a year extra on fuel," he said.

He agreed that crossings "need to be closed" but said National Highways "need to come up with another option".

But another attendee, Pat Elwick, said "those gaps are killing people, it's a no-brainer" to close them.

A man in a bright blue jumper, over the top of a blue shirt, unbuttoned at the collar, smiles at the camera.
Alastair Ross says some changes to the road could cost villagers hundreds of pounds a year in extra fuel

More than 80 people attended the meeting, which was organised by Lincolnshire County Council.

Phil Shaw, route manager at National Highways, said feedback showed that most people supported the plan.

However, he added: "If we're going to get loads of objections it's not going to go ahead and we are wasting our time and money pursuing something that's not going to happen."

Despite there being alternatives to shorten the diversions, he said "those options come with a cost".

"For the people of Marston, building a new link road would be a great solution but that money [doesn't belong to residents in Marston], it's everyone's money."

Councillor Richard Davies, the council's executive member for highways, said there was "no easy answer, the reality is some people will find their journeys extended".

"There just isn't the money available to do all the crossings work," he added.

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