Lincolnshire is a large county inEngland with a sparse population distribution, which leads to problems funding all sorts of transport. The transport history is long and varied, with much of the road network still based on the Roman model, and the once extensive rail network a shadow of its former self.
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Being on the economic periphery of England, Lincolnshire's transport links are less well developed than many other parts of theUnited Kingdom. The road network within the county is dominated by single-carriageway A roads and the minor B roads rather thanmotorways ordual carriageways – the administrative county of Lincolnshire is one of the small number of UK counties without a motorway (theM180, the principal link betweenSouth Yorkshire and theNorth Sea coast, runs exclusively within the boundaries ofNorth Lincolnshire).
Three trunk roads are located in Lincolnshire, these are maintained byNational Highways, a publicly owned company that is responsible for trunk routes across England. These are the A1, A46 & A52.
Following a north–south axis, the most important route into and out of the county is theA1 (formerly theGreat North Road) linking the county withLondon and south-east England as well as the important population centres of northern England andScotland. The A1 is entirely a dual carriageway in Lincolnshire.
The A46 reaches across the entire county, fromNewark toGrimsby. The A46 is a trunk route between the county border near Newark to Lincoln, this section of road is almost entirely a Dual Carriageway, beyond Lincoln, the A46 is maintained by the local council and is entirely single carriageway. The A57 is entirely Single Carriageway in Lincolnshire, West of the A1 it is a trunk route, East of the A1 it is maintained by the local council.
Other important routes in Lincolnshire include the A15, A16, A17 & A158. The A15 & A16 run on the north–south axis, with the A16 being nearer to the East coast. The A15 lies between the A1 and A16. Both routes are almost entirely single carriageway with small amounts of dual carriageway in built up areas. The A17 & A158 run on the east–west axis; the A158 being located north of the A17. The A17 has the most rural dual carriageway distance of any of the roads in Lincolnshire, with Dual Carriageways being present atBeckingham,Sleaford &Holbeach.
Partly because of its fast and flat (but deceptively undulating) roads, Lincolnshire has one of the worst road accident records of the UK counties (as measured in terms of road fatalities per head of population). In a national effort to cut the number of speed-related deaths and injuries, the county's residents became earlyguinea pigs in a programme to roll outspeed cameras across the country.
Bus services within the county are also limited in number, due to the inherent economic feasibility of serving a scattered population living across an area with low population density. Many smaller villages in the county have no regular bus service, making access to a private vehicle the only practical means of living in many parts of the county. The services that do exist almost exclusively serve the large population centres (e.g. Lincoln, Grantham,Boston,Skegness, Grimsby, Cleethorpes, Scunthorpe) and mid-sized market towns (e.g.Horncastle,Gainsborough) and a number of their dormitory and commuter villages.
The main bus company in the county,Stagecoach in Lincolnshire, was bought out byStagecoach in late 2005.Stagecoach Grimsby-Cleethorpes runs buses inNorth East Lincolnshire
Smaller companies like theDelaine Buses andKimes offer local services of considerable importance. A group of five of them offer integrated services under theInterConnect banner, including dial-up requested routings.
The low population density of the county means that the number of railway stations and train services is rather low considering the county's large physical size. A large number of the county's railway stations were permanently closed in the 1950s and 1960s, many following theBeeching Report of 1963.
An early closure (in 1959) was the whole of the formerMidland and Great Northern Joint Railway line throughSutton Bridge,Spalding, andBourne and west to the Midlands. No obvious alternative to this route was available, and the loss has affected development and caused road congestion ever since.
One of the first railways to close in Lincolnshire was theEarl of Ancaster'sestate railway, which ran from theEast Coast Main Line atLittle Bytham, through theGrimsthorpe estate toEdenham. It operated until the 1870s.[1]
A daily through train service operated betweenCleethorpes andLondon King's Cross viaGrimsby,Market Rasen andLincoln until 1993 when it was discontinued due to issues with the length of the platforms at Lincoln not being long enough forInterCity 125 trains. This necessitated passengers changing trains atNewark North Gate when travelling to or from the capital. However, theEast Coast Main Line passes through the county and so it is possible to catch direct trains to London,Leeds orEdinburgh fromGrantham. In December 2008 a dailyEast Midlands Trains service from Lincoln toLondon St Pancras, viaNottingham was introduced. In the summer of 2008, a major refit ofLincoln station improved signalling and customer facilities but did little to change the platform length issue.
TransPennine Express trains from Cleethorpes run toManchester Airport, passing throughScunthorpe and connecting to the East Coast Main Line atDoncaster before continuing viaSheffield.East Midlands Railway services betweenSkegness and Nottingham pass throughBoston,Sleaford and Grantham.
Stamford station is served hourly with an east–westCrossCountry service betweenPeterborough andLeicester.
An hourly East Midlands Railway service fromNorwich toLiverpool stops at Grantham.
Lincolnshire has its own airport (Humberside Airport) in the north of the county atKirmington (a formerRoyal Air Forcebomber airfield), betweenScunthorpe,Grimsby and Lincoln. Several others are fairly easily accessible by either road or rail.
Lincolnshire is served by theFoss Dyke canal, an ancient waterway ofRoman origin, which connects theRiver Trent and theRiver Witham.Brayford Pool is the inland basin in the city, once a busy transhipment point. The Witham is navigable to Boston. Access between Brayford pool and the Witham is by theGlory Hole, a low medieval bridge spanning the river. The "Air Draught" under the bridge is given as 9 feet 2 inches.
TheRiver Ancholme is also navigable with theCaistor Canal branch (now disused), as are some of the larger drains in the Fens, such as theSouth Forty-Foot Drain and theWitham Navigable Drains.
TheFens Waterways Link is a scheme for waterways improvement for leisure boating. It proposes a new navigation between the South Forty-Foot Drain and theRiver Witham. The new lock gates atBlack Sluice inBoston were officially opened in March 2009.[2] Much work remains to be done on the Forty-foot before the dream can be realised of travelling from Lincoln to Cambridge.
TheHorncastle Canal dates back to 1792, linking the town of Horncastle to the Witham and incorporating the route of the earlier Tattersal navigation.[3] At least a century before what is normally called the Canal Age theStamford Canal andLouth Canal were in use with modern style locks and towpath construction.Bourne andSleaford had navigable river access until well into the 20th century and there are plans afoot to re-open theSleaford Navigation.
TheGrantham Canal ran for 33 miles (53 km) fromGrantham through 18locks to West Bridgford, where it joined theRiver Trent. It is currently under restoration.
