Preliminary construction work will begin on Monday (23 June) to create a roundabout on the A47 – close to the junction with the A15 Paston Parkway – which will be the city's entry point to the new bypass.

It means diversions will be put in place, and speed limits imposed, for the duration of the building work, which is expected to last 18 months, and will see a 13-mile long stretch of road join the A47 to the A16 south of Spalding.

The new roundabout is being built between the Newborough Road and Welland Road turn-offs on the A47.

There will be no right turn, into or out of, Newborough Road and there will be no right turn for eastbound traffic into Welland Road.

It will mean vehicles needing to turn into the Dogsthorpe land-fill site, off Welland Road, will have to go all the way up to the Whitepost Road roundabout, at Eye, and back down again to turn left.

A spokesman for Peterborough City Council said: "The Highways Agency has been and will continue to work closely with the city council and Lincolnshire County Council to ensure any delays to traffic using the A47 are limited."

But it promises to be worth the wait, as the £80 million improvement scheme is expected to make thousands of motorists' journeys safer.

Residents and councillors have been campaigning for the bypass since 1985.

Traffic will be directed over two new bridges at Wright's Drove and Queen's Bank, while a 75-metre bridge will span the ancient monument Car Dyke.

The existing A1073 currently carries between 11,200 and 17,800 vehicles per day, a high proportion of which are lorries.

It has seen about 50 accidents in the last three years alone, killing and seriously injuring a number of people.

Eye and Thorney councillor David Sanders said: "The existing A1073 is exceptionally dangerous, and the road clearly can't handle the amount of traffic using it.

"After the work, the people who drive on the road will be safer, because the design will eliminate the need for motorists to overtake."

It will also make daily like less hectic for residents of Eye Green, as the route of the new A1073 misses it completely.

The Department of Transport is providing a capped funding contribution of £69.8 million towards the £80.3 million total cost of the scheme and it is expected to be completed in late 2010.





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