CHANGES have been made to the works underway on a multi-million-pound new road, as the impact of the coronavirus crisis continues to be felt across North East Lincolnshire.
As previously announced, all work will be halted for an initial four weeks, with immediate effect, on the £8.5m Humber Bank Link Road project. The situation will be reviewed after that time in line with Government guidance.
However, this does mean that those taking essential journeys will temporarily be able to use the full stretch of road, part new and part existing, between the Hobson Way roundabout at Stallingborough to Moody Lane in Grimsby, but only until the project is able to restart. Businesses are being informed of the temporary arrangement.
As previously reported the Humber Bank Link Road is a new 2.5km unclassified highway, which links the existing Hobson Way roundabout with Moody Lane – creating an easier passage between the ports of Immingham and Grimsby, cutting journey times by up to 20-minutes.
The work is being managed by ENGIE on behalf of North East Lincolnshire Council and is split into in three phases.
The first, and most complicated section, was completed at the end of last month, slightly behind schedule with bad weather and severe flooding leading to unavoidable delays. It involved the building of a completely new stretch of highway on previously undeveloped land.
This part involved not only building the new section of road, but also installing a new drainage culvert, lighting and footpaths. Additionally, some planting had already been carried out before the suspension of works.
The next part of the build that was due to start, but is now on hold, will replace the existing stretch of road between ‘The Gatehouse’ and Moody Lane. When this phase does start, the old road will be closed except for access to the premises of Solenis UK Limited. The final piece of the jigsaw will be to link the sections of road together to complete the ‘fit for purpose’ £8.5m new road.
As project managers and council leaders wait to re-assess the situation, they were keen to highlight the progress made so far. The Humber Link Road is a part of North East Lincolnshire Council’s South Humber Industrial Investment Programme, (SHIIP), and is supported by the Greater Lincolnshire Local Enterprise Partnership, (GLLEP).
Work started in March 2019 following the appointment of the successful contractor, Colas-Siac Construction.
North East Lincolnshire Council’s Cabinet member for Regeneration and deputy leader, Cllr John Fenty, said:
“When you look at the completion of this Phase One, you can already see the remarkable difference that new infrastructure, such as this road, will make. Easy and rapid access between our main industrial hubs is an important element of ensuring we have the very best base from which industry can grow.
“Clearly we all understand the need to postpone the next phase of this work and we all fully support the reasons for doing so, but we all hope to see things starting again as soon as it is safe and practical to do so,” he added.
As reported, SHIIP represents an investment of approximately £42m and is being managed by ENGIE on behalf of the council. Money from GLLEP, the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership, North East Lincolnshire Council, and the The European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), are supporting the Link Road build, the development of the new Stallingborough Business Park, major A1173 highway improvements and the creation of the only mitigation site of its kind in Europe.
For more on SHIIP go to www.southhumber.co.uk or www.investnel.co.uk