Rare bat discovered on relief road route

A rare breed of bat has helped push up the costs of the proposed North Hykeham Relief Road according to highways bosses.

Lincolnshire County Council’s leaders will be updated on the road scheme’s progress over the next few weeks as the authority eyes an autumn start on site.

A report to the Overview and Scrutiny Management Board next Thursday, August 28, outlines how the scheme’s costs have risen from between £180m and £208m to between £203m and £218m.

Part of the increase is due to the discovery of the barbastelle bat in the project’s route area – the rare breed is classified as ‘vulnerable’ by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (see accompanying Bat Facts in Hello Lincoln’s Environment section).

As a result, a fully grassed-over bridge near the South Hykeham section of the relief must be built to cater for the bats’ flight path. In addition, a bat tunnel at Somerton Gate Lane and a number of bat ‘hop-overs’ have been added to the scheme, which will offer space for the bats to cross the relief road unaffected by moving vehicles.

The council is also challenging an unexpected £3.5m increase in Anglian Water fees to divert the schemes underground water and drainage infrastructure but had counted the revised costs in its new projections.

The North Hykeham Relief Road project will form the final section of Lincoln’s 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 would be built at South Hykeham Road, Brant Road and Grantham Road. A number of bridges would also be constructed, including at Station Road and over the River Witham.

Karen Cassar, assistant director for highways, said: “We’re still working at full speed towards getting the North Hykeham Relief Road project to the stage where we can finally break ground. In fact, we’re now expecting to make an official start on site this autumn, when archaeological works begin.

"We took part in a public inquiry for the project back in July which we believe went well. We’re now just waiting to hear back from the Secretary of State with a decision, which we expect will be made in September.

“In the meantime, the team is finalising the project’s full business case, which we’re planning to submit to the Department for Transport in September, pending sign-off from Executive and approval of the scheme’s legal orders.” 

Councillors will also hear that other additional costs include dualling the Sleaford Road roundabout section of the LEB – construction of a 90-metre section of dual carriageway just after Sleaford Road roundabout to make it easier for vehicles to merge after the roundabout,

A number of new design requirements have also arisen since the last cost forecast, including:

• an additional acoustic barrier and additional test piles
• additional Environment Agency requirements relating to the temporary haul bridge over the River Witham
• additional drainage compliance requirements 
• National Highways requirements relating to the A46 Hykeham Roundabout
• increased NIC contributions reflected in the project’s construction costs, along with increased pre-construction costs relating to all of the listed scope changes.

Top picture: Eric Medard for the Woodland Trust.

Picture of North Hykeham Relief Road route courtesy Lincolnshire County Council.