Closure of lane on cracked £32m bridge continues

Residents face another five months of disruption after a council said work to repair a cracked bridge would continue.

The £32m King's Dyke bridge, which connects Peterborough and Whittlesey over the Peterborough-Ely railway line, was opened in 2022 to ease traffic caused by a level crossing.

However it was partially closed last June, two years after it opened, after cracks were spotted in the westbound carriageway.

Cambridgeshire County Council said the lane closure would remain in place and it planned to start remedial work on the site in May, which should be completed in September.

The bridge, known as the Ralph Butcher Causeway, was named in honour of a former Fenland district councillor who campaigned for it to be built in the 1970s.

But spiralling costs, a revised scheme and a change of contractor meant work did not start until July 2020 and after a 50-year wait, it finally opened in July 2022.

It was described as a "triumph" by the mayor at that time and was expected to cut road delays as an alternative to the level crossing at King's Dyke, where the gates were closing up to 200 times a day and motorists had to wait between 12 and 23 minutes.

After cracks appeared in the bridge last summer, it was expected to be partially closed for just a short time, but repairs have been ongoing.

The "triumph" turned into a nightmare for many people trying to use the new bridge, and some said it remained so.

Bob Athow, 84, who owns Bob's Records in Whittlesey, said: "It's killed us stone-dead business-wise because people don't bother [to drive here] because they know the hassle it's causing."

He said he was not impressed by the statement from the council that work should be completed by September.

Mr Athow said with additional traffic using the bridge and regular flooding on other local roads, "getting a canoe" might be the only option for avid fans of vinyl records.

Meanwhile, Sarah George, 57, said she was regularly held up if she tried to go to Peterborough for shopping, or to see the city's football team play at home.

"It's a nightmare queuing up at times. It needs to be sorted."

While another resident, who did not wish to be named, said the causeway was causing "a lot of delay... and it's not improved anything at all".

"We've got exactly the same situation on the road between Whittlesey and Peterborough - it causes such a delay," she said.

On its website, Cambridgeshire County Council wrote: "The emergency lane closure on Ralph Butcher Causeway, due to cracking in the road, remains in place. Work on the design options for the required remedial work continues.

"We still plan to start work on site in May, subject to the necessary approvals, and it is anticipated the remedial work would be completed in September."

It added: "We apologise for the inconvenience."

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