Some A1 slip roads may be widened

Some slip roads on and off the A1 may be widened in an effort to address gridlock around Newark.

Significant traffic problems persist throughout the week, frequently causing queues.

The town’s MP, Mr Robert Jenrick, recently met Highways England officials who, he said, are working on plans to ease the burden on Newark’s under-pressure infrastructure.

Mr Jenrick said Highways England indicated it wanted to widen slip roads where possible on the verges, with improved signage. It also has plans for making permanent ‘vehicle management signs’ to warn motorists of the dangers at the slip roads.

He said: “There is always more that Highways England can do (but) there is a limit in the short-term.

“We will obviously continue to press them to do as much as possible.

“I am afraid the series of slip roads were designed in an age where the A1 was a far quieter road, and the traffic was significantly less. That can only be resolved by redesigning these.

“By their own admission, it’s not the full answer to the problem.”

Some measures have been introduced already. These include temporary queue detection signs on the approach to the junction with the A46, and central hatch marking on the A46 between the Farndon and Cattlemarket roundabouts.

These were designed to reduced the number of collisions, specifically those involving drivers who were overtaking.

Mr Jenrick added that the key to easing the issues of gridlock lay in dualling the full length of the Newark bypass, between the Brownhills and Farndon roundabouts.

'Key to our long-term economic future'

It is the only stretch of the road from Thorpe-on-the-Hill, near Lincoln, to Leicester that is not dual carriageway.

Funding has been released for initial work, including the start of a design process, but Mr Jenrick is continuing to push for the whole project to be completed – the cost of which he said was £250m.

The scheme has been included in the Road Investment Strategy 2020-2025, but details of funding allocations are not due to be released until 2019

He said: “It is the single most important investment for not just Newark, but the area around us.

“It is the key to our long-term economic future.

“Most of the businesses that are in Newark are attracted for our centrality.

“If we don’t sort out the roads we are going to struggle to attract the kinds of businesses we are today and we have for hundreds of years.”

While not commenting specifically on plans to widen slip roads, Mr Kamaljit Khokhar, Highways England’s spatial planning and economic development team leader, said: “We are committed to improving safety on the A1 and take the concerns raised seriously.

“We are in the process of reviewing junctions and will continue to work with local stakeholders as we identify issues that require attention.”