The A16 road is a principal road of

Lincolnshire Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a Counties of England, county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-we ...

in the

East Midlands The East Midlands is one of nine official regions of England at the first level of ITL for statistical purposes. It comprises the eastern half of the area traditionally known as the Midlands. It consists of Leicestershire, Derbyshire, L ...

region of England, connecting the port of

Grimsby Grimsby or Great Grimsby is a port town and the administrative centre of North East Lincolnshire, Lincolnshire, England. Grimsby adjoins the town of Cleethorpes directly to the south-east forming a conurbation. Grimsby is north-east of L ...

and

Peterborough Peterborough () is a cathedral city in Cambridgeshire, east of England. It is the largest part of the City of Peterborough unitary authority district (which covers a larger area than Peterborough itself). It was part of Northamptonshire unti ...

, where it meets the A1175, A47 &

A1139 The City of Peterborough in East Anglia has an extensive and well integrated road network, owing partly to its status as a new town. Since the 1960s, the city has seen considerable expansion and its various suburbs are linked by a system of park ...

then on to the A1 and the A605; the latter, in turn, giving a through route to

Northampton Northampton () is a market town and civil parish in the East Midlands of England, on the River Nene, north-west of London and south-east of Birmingham. The county town of Northamptonshire, Northampton is one of the largest towns in England ...

and the west, and south west of England. Its length is . The road was "de-trunked", with responsibility largely returned to

Lincolnshire County Council Lincolnshire (abbreviated Lincs.) is a county in the East Midlands of England, with a long coastline on the North Sea to the east. It borders Norfolk to the south-east, Cambridgeshire to the south, Rutland to the south-west, Leicestershire an ...

from the Highways Agency in 2002.

Settlements on route

From north to south its route is: *

* Utterby * Louth (now bypassed) * Burwell *

Walmsgate Walmsgate is a hamlet in the civil parish of Burwell, in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the A16 road, south-east from Louth. The name 'Walmsgate' means 'point of land of a man named Waldmaer'. The los ...

* Dalby *

Partney __NOTOC__ Partney is a small village and civil parish in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated north of Spilsby, and in the Lincolnshire Wolds. The village was the birthplace of Henry Stubbe, the noted 17th-centu ...

(now bypassed) *

Spilsby Spilsby is a market town, civil parish and electoral ward in the East Lindsey district of Lincolnshire, England. The town is adjacent to the main A16, east of the county town of Lincoln, north-east of Boston and north-west of Skegnes ...

* East Keal * Keal Cotes * Stickford (now bypassed) * Stickney * Sibsey * Hilldyke *

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

* Wyberton (now bypassed) * Kirton (now bypassed) *

Surfleet Surfleet is a small village and civil parish in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated on the B1356 road, north of Spalding, in the Lincolnshire fens. The River Glen runs through the village. The village has ...

(now bypassed) * Pinchbeck (now bypassed) * Spalding (now bypassed) *

Crowland Crowland (modern usage) or Croyland (medieval era name and the one still in ecclesiastical use; cf. la, Croilandia) is a town in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. It is situated between Peterborough and Spalding. Crowland ...

(bypassed) *

The road is a Primary Route for its entire length. Most of the A16 is

single carriageway A single carriageway (British English) or Undivided highway (American English) is a road with one, two or more lanes arranged within a one carriageway with no central reservation to separate opposing flows of traffic. A single-track road has a s ...

History

Ludborough Bypass opening

The £1.2 million Ludborough Bypass opened in November 1992.

Fotherby Bypass opening

The Fotherby Bypass opened in 2004.

Louth Bypass opening

£6.6 million Louth Bypass opened in August 1991.

Partney Bypass opening

The Partney Bypass opened in August 2005.

Stickford Bypass opening

The £1 million Stickford Bypass opened in October 1992.

Boston Inner Relief Road opening

The £1.4 million Boston Inner Relief Road opened in early 1978.

Boston-Algarkirk Diversion opening

The £11.5 million Boston-

Algarkirk Algarkirk ( ) is a village and civil parish in the Borough of Boston in Lincolnshire, England. It is situated south-south-west from Boston and near the A16 road. It has a population of 406, falling to 386 at the 2011 census. An alternative vi ...

Diversion opened in October 1991.

Spalding Bypass opening

The £23 million Spalding- Sutterton Improvement (the Spalding Bypass) opened in August 1995.

Future

Boston Distributor Road

There are demands for Boston to be bypassed. Therefore, Lincolnshire County Council have 'safeguarded' the corridor for the Boston Distributor Road.

Incidents

There are multiple crashes on the A16, especially near Louth.

Spalding-Peterborough route change

Old route of the A16

The route of the A16 changed following the completion of the new Spalding-Peterborough link road. The section between Spalding to the south of Crowland only, opened in August 2010; the remainder was completed in October 2011. The new route has taken the number A16, effectively linking the route with Peterborough, with the current road from Spalding to Stamford becoming the A1175.Chance to see route of £69.8 million road from Spalding to Eye
, Lincs. Free Press, 25 September 2008

A1073 road

This new section replaced the A1073 road, a road that ran between the former A16 at south of Spalding in

and the A47 between Eye and Eye Green at near Peterborough. The A1073 route had become increasingly dangerous over the years because traffic usage had increased. It was narrow with many blind corners and slopes, and much of it was on an embankment with deep ditches either side and no run-off areas. There were dangerous junctions, particularly with the B1443 between Peakirk and Thorney, which formed a staggered

crossroads Crossroads, crossroad, cross road or similar may refer to: * Crossroads (junction), where four roads meet Film and television Films * ''Crossroads'' (1928 film), a 1928 Japanese film by Teinosuke Kinugasa * ''Cross Roads'' (film), a 1930 Brit ...

. The road was a principal route servicing the food-processing industry in Spalding, bringing in supplies and moving products to the

supermarket A supermarket is a self-service shop offering a wide variety of food, beverages and household products, organized into sections. This kind of store is larger and has a wider selection than earlier grocery stores, but is smaller and more limit ...

distribution system to the south. An upgrade to the route had been under discussion for many years. The main hold-up was arguments over funding between the administrative counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and the

Department for Transport The Department for Transport (DfT) is a department of His Majesty's Government responsible for the English transport network and a limited number of transport matters in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland that have not been devolved. The ...

, exacerbated by the actions of a former Leader of Lincolnshire County Council who went to jail for seeking to influence the route to his own financial advantage. Eventually a route was agreed, avoiding

Cowbit __NOTOC__ Cowbit (locally pronounced ''Cubbit'') is a village and civil parish in the South Holland district of Lincolnshire, England. The population of the civil parish at the 2011 census was 1,220. It is situated south from Spalding and no ...

and

and joining the A47 west of Eye, and in 2008 construction work began, originally due to be completed by Autumn 2010. The Northern of the new route opened between Spalding and the roundabout south of Crowland in Autumn 2010, with the opening of the Southern delayed due to structural problems at the embankment at

Car Dyke The Car Dyke was, and to a large extent still is, an long ditch which runs along the western edge of the Fens in eastern England. It is generally accepted as being of Roman age and, for many centuries, to have been taken as marking the western ...

Bridge. On completion of remedial repairs and the opening of the Southern portion on 16 October 2011, the new road was renumbered to form part of the A16; the original A1073 alignment between Spalding and Eye Green became an unclassified

local road The road hierarchy categorizes roads according to their functions and capacities. While sources differ on the exact nomenclature, the basic hierarchy comprises freeways, arterials, collectors, and local roads. Generally, the functional hierarc ...

.Chance to see route of £89 million road from Spalding to Eye
, Lincs. Free Press, 25 September 2008

References

External links

Partney Bypass opens.

Boston Bypass Pressure Group.

Lincolnshire Police drop off member of public by the A16 who then dies from hypothermia walking home.

Park and Ride site at Stickney.

{{DEFAULTSORT:1-0016 Boston, Lincolnshire East Lindsey District Louth, Lincolnshire Borough of North East Lincolnshire Roads in Cambridgeshire Roads in England Roads in Lincolnshire South Holland, Lincolnshire Spalding, Lincolnshire Transport in Peterborough