DIVERSIONARY ROUTE WILL BE TREATED

Brigg motorists have been reassured Elsham Hill and the B-road from Barton Road End to Bonby Lodge will be "salted", if necessary, while being used as a diversionary route during Network Rail's requested closure of the A18 between Wrawby and Barnetby while a bridge is replaced over the Barnetby-Scunthorpe tracks.
The work starts this Friday and should take a couple of weeks, prompting fears the gritters might not be diverted to the alternative route if further wintry weather arrives.
However, Brigg area representative Coun Nigel Sherwood has checked that out with the powers-that-be at North Lincolnshire Council and been assured: "We are not expecting snow and ice. However we continue to monitor the situation and we are still on standby to react if it comes our way. If it does the diversion route will be salted."
That response from the council is informative and just what local motorists wanted to hear, but it was issued at much the same time as a strange one from the Government's Highways Agency. Strange in the context of when the A18 is to be closed between Wrawby and Barnetby.
In a news release entitled Roadworks lifted for Easter bank holiday, the H.A. reveals: "Road users travelling on the 9,534 carriageway miles of England’s motorways and major A roads over the Easter bank holiday will benefit from the suspension or completion of 60 per cent of roadworks by the Highways Agency to help drivers make smoother journeys over the Easter weekend. A total of 74 sets of roadworks are due to be completed and a further 60 are due to be suspended before 06:00 on Thursday 1 April."
It adds: "Despite experiencing delays to roadworks caused by the most prolonged and severe winter in the UK for the last 30 years, the Highways Agency is committed to keeping any disruption caused by these improvements to an absolute minimum which is why we are lifting 60% of roadworks this Easter. The move is part of the Highways Agency’s commitment to ease congestion, helping drivers to make their journeys safely and reliably. For many areas of the country, this Thursday sees the start of the school holidays and the Easter bank holiday weekend. This means that fewer families will be able to plan an early getaway and more people can be expected on the roads on Thursday evening and during Good Friday."
Derek Turner, the Highways Agency’s Director for Network Delivery and Development, said: "Over the Easter bank holiday, many people will be using our motorways and major A roads to begin their family holiday or get away for a long weekend. We wish to thank road users for their patience while we have been delivering these additional works which have been part of the Government’s package of measures to help secure jobs in the construction industry. We wish to reassure the travelling public that the Highways Agency is lifting as many roadworks as is safe and practical to do so for this Easter bank holiday. Removing roadworks is just one way we help road users during bank holidays. Our Traffic Officer Service will be on patrol and working in our control centres to help traffic flow smoothly and we will continue to provide up to the minute journey planning advice though our website, electronic road signs and the media."
The Highways Agency then supplies an extensive list of remaining, suspended and completed roadworks over Easter - but we can't find any reference at all to the lengthy closure of our own A18 at Wrawby, which starts on Good Friday.