A16
Route information
Length	78.3 mi[1] (126.0 km)
Major junctions
South end	A47 in Peterborough
Major intersections	A151 near Spalding A17 in Sutterton A52 in Boston A158 near Partney A18 near Ludborough
North end	A180 in Grimsby
Location
Country	United Kingdom
Constituent country	England
Primary destinations	Spalding Boston
Road network
Roads in the United Kingdom Motorways A and B road zones
← A15 → A17

The A16 road is a principal road of Lincolnshire in the East Midlands region of England, connecting the port of Grimsby and Peterborough, where it meets the A1175, A47 & A1139 then on to the A1 and the A605; the latter, in turn, giving a through route to Northampton and the west, and south west of England. Its length is 78 miles (126 km). The road was "de-trunked", with responsibility largely returned to Lincolnshire County Council from the Highways Agency in 2002.^[2][3]

Settlements on route

From north to south its route is:

• Grimsby
• Utterby
• Louth (now bypassed)
• Burwell
• Walmsgate
• Dalby
• Partney (now bypassed)
• Spilsby
• East Keal
• Keal Cotes
• Stickford (now bypassed)
• Stickney
• Sibsey
• Hilldyke
• Boston
• Wyberton (now bypassed)
• Kirton (now bypassed)
• Surfleet (now bypassed)
• Pinchbeck (now bypassed)
• Spalding (now bypassed)
• Crowland (bypassed)
• Peterborough

The road is a Primary Route for its entire length. Most of the A16 is single carriageway.

History

Ludborough Bypass opening

The 1-mile (1.6 km) £1.2 million Ludborough Bypass opened on 25 October 1992.^[4]

Fotherby Bypass opening

The 1-mile (1.6 km) Fotherby Bypass opened in 2004.^{[citation needed]}

Louth Bypass opening

3-mile (4.8 km) £6.6 million Louth Bypass opened in August 1991.^[5]

Partney Bypass opening

The 1-mile (1.6 km) Partney Bypass opened in August 2005.^{[citation needed]}

Stickford Bypass opening

The 1-mile (1.6 km) £1 million Stickford Bypass opened in October 1992.^{[citation needed]}

Boston Inner Relief Road opening

The £1.4 million Boston Inner Relief Road opened in early 1978.^{[citation needed]}

Boston-Algarkirk Diversion opening

The 6-mile (9.7 km) £11.5 million Boston-Algarkirk Diversion opened in October 1991.^{[citation needed]}

Spalding Bypass opening

The 11-mile (18 km) £23 million Spalding-Sutterton Improvement (the Spalding Bypass) opened in August 1995.^[6]

Junction list

County	Location	mi[1]	km	Destinations	Notes
Cambridgeshire	Peterborough	0.0	0.0	A47 (Eye Road) / Welland Road to A1 / A15 / A605 – Wisbech, Peterborough, Leicester, Dogsthrope, The North, London, Sleaford, Northampton, Eye, Eye Green, Thorney	Southern terminus
Lincolnshire	Cowbit–Spalding boundary	13.1	21.1	A1175 south-west / B1173 (Barrier Bank) to A15 – Stamford, Spalding town centre, Bourne, Deeping St Nicholas, Market Deeping	North-eastern terminus of A1175
	Spalding	16.2	26.1	A151 (Holbeach Road) to A17 – Spalding, Holbeach, King's Lynn, Weston, Moulton
	Surfleet	19.8	31.9	A152 north-west – Surfleet, Gosberton, Donington	South-eastern terminus of A152
	Sutterton	23.2	37.3	A17 / Station Road to A52 – King's Lynn, Sleaford, Grantham, Sutterton, Fosdyke, Wigtoft
	Boston	29.7	47.8	A52 west (Liquorport Road) to A1121 – Grantham, Sleaford	Southern terminus of A52 concurrency
		29.9	48.1	A1138 south (South End) – Fishtoft	Fishtoft signed northbound only; northern terminus of A1138
		30.4	48.9	Horncastle Road (A1137 west) / Wide Bargate / B1183 – Horncastle	Eastern terminus of A1137
		31.2	50.2	A52 east (Wainfleet Road) – Wainfleet, Fishtoft	Fishtoft signed southbound only; northern terminus of A52 concurrency
	West Keal–East Keal boundary	43.4	69.8	A155 west (Main Road) to A153 – Sleaford, West Keal, East Kirkby	Eastern terminus of A155
	Partney	47.5	76.4	A158 – Skegness, Lincoln, Partney, Scremby, Burgh le Marsh, Sausthorpe, Horncastle
	Ulceby with Fordington	51.4	82.7	A1028 south-east (Main Road) / A1104 north-east to A158 – Skegness, Mablethorpe, Ulceby, Alford, Bilsby	Ulceby signed northbound only; north-western terminus of A1028; south-western terminus of A1104
	Raithby cum Maltby	60.4	97.2	A157 east (Station Road) / B1520 (London Road) – Mablethorpe, Louth, Manby, Saltfleetby	Southern terminus of A157 concurrency
	Elkington	62.6	100.7	A157 west / B1200 to A631 – Lincoln, Louth, Gainsborough, Market Rasen, Wragby	Northern terminus of A157 concurrency
	Utterby–Ludborough boundary	67.9	109.3	A18 west – Immingham, Humber Bridge, Ludborough, North Ormsby	Eastern terminus of A18
	New Waltham	74.6	120.1	Louth Road (A1243 north) / Becklands Avenue – Scartho	Southern terminus of A1243
		75.3	121.2	A1098 north (Hewitt's Avenue) – Cleethorpes	Southern terminus of A1098
	Grimsby	76.9	123.8	A46 (Weelsby Road) – Cleethorpes, Lincoln
		77.8	125.2	Ellis Way / Frederick Ward Way (A1136) - Town centre
		78.3	126.0	A180 (Cleethorpe Road / Westgate) / Lockhill / M180 – Cleethorpes, Immingham	Northern terminus
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

Future

Boston Distributor Road

There are demands for Boston to be bypassed. Therefore, Lincolnshire County Council have 'safeguarded' the corridor for the Boston Distributor Road. ^[7]

Incidents

There are multiple crashes on the A16, especially near Louth and Crowland. ^[8]

Spalding-Peterborough route change

Old route of the A16

The route of the A16 changed following the completion of the new Spalding-Peterborough link road. The section between Spalding to the south of Crowland only, opened in August 2010; the remainder was completed in October 2011. The new route has taken the number A16, effectively linking the route with Peterborough, with the current road from Spalding to Stamford becoming the A1175.^[9]

A1073 road

This new section replaced the A1073 road, a road that ran between the former A16 at 52°45.5262′N 0°9.6174′W / 52.7587700°N 0.1602900°W / 52.7587700; -0.1602900 0.81 miles (1.3 km) south of Spalding in Lincolnshire and the A47 between Eye and Eye Green at 52°36.7206′N 0°11.1378′W / 52.6120100°N 0.1856300°W / 52.6120100; -0.1856300 near Peterborough. ^[10][11][12]

The A1073 route had become increasingly dangerous over the years because traffic usage had increased. It was narrow with many blind corners and slopes, and much of it was on an embankment with deep ditches either side and no run-off areas. There were dangerous junctions, particularly with the B1443 between Peakirk and Thorney, which formed a staggered crossroads. The road was a principal route servicing the food-processing industry in Spalding, bringing in supplies and moving products to the supermarket distribution system to the south.

An upgrade to the route had been under discussion for many years. The main hold-up was arguments over funding between the administrative counties of Lincolnshire, Cambridgeshire and the Department for Transport, exacerbated by the actions of a former Leader of Lincolnshire County Council who went to jail for seeking to influence the route to his own financial advantage.^[13] Eventually a route was agreed, avoiding Cowbit and Crowland and joining the A47 west of Eye, and in 2008 construction work began, originally due to be completed by Autumn 2010.^[14][15]

The Northern 8.3 miles (13.4 km) of the new route opened between Spalding and the roundabout south of Crowland in Autumn 2010, with the opening of the Southern 4.8 miles (7.7 km) delayed due to structural problems at the embankment at Car Dyke Bridge. On completion of remedial repairs and the opening of the Southern portion on 16 October 2011, the new road was renumbered to form part of the A16; the original A1073 alignment between Spalding and Eye Green became an unclassified local road.^[16]