Ambitious plans to create an orbital route around Lincoln could be held up until early next year after more research into a preferred route for the southern stretch was called for.
Cllr ~William Webb~ cabinet member for transportation, has come under fire for approving corridor two of the road to link the 8km eastern bypass and proposed western route for further consideration without going out to consultation. Some residents in Waddington believe it will slice their community in two.
But ~Richard Wills~, Lincolnshire’s director for development, stressed that the decision was appropriate because it did not mean that route was now legally binding.
‘It is an indication of preference, a fairly broad 60m-wide corridor,’ he said. While he acknowledged the concerns of residents who feared the bypass would bisect their community, ‘we feel this route offers us the best-possible chance of receiving government funding’.
The other two potential routes have been discounted, including the preferred route in the 1990s, where a 70-property estate has since been built. ‘Corridor three’ would be ignored by most drivers because it was too far to the south.
Wills and his colleagues are currently investigating a more precise route, and will report back to the council by early 2007.