Emergency work is set to begin on a coastal road after badgers caused £100,000 worth of damage by tunnelling underneath it. Lincolnshire County Council has been granted a last minute licence from Natural England for essential repair work on Seaholme Road in Mablethorpe as badgers are a protected species.
All work on the animals’ setts has to be carried out between July and the end of November due to the badger’s mating season. And a condition of the licence is that repairs must be carried out under a road closure to ensure the safety of the badgers.
The council says this has now left little time to carry out the essential work necessary and without it the entire section of the road would have to be closed until next year. And the work will now coincide with resurfacing work on a nearby road which is already causing a big traffic-flow issue.
Works on the A1104 will operate under a road closure to ensure the safety of the crew and road users. Councillor Richard Davies, executive member for highways said: “It is extremely frustrating that we have not been given this licence until now.
(Image: LCC)
“Because there is such a small amount of time left to carry out these works, we can’t avoid the impact on the area that these badgers – and our current A1104 scheme – will have on Mablethorpe’s traffic flow. We can’t pause the other scheme because it is at a critical stage of the work, and now we have to carry out these essential works to repair the damage that the badgers have caused.
“Our hands are tied about scheduling these conflicting works. We have no option but to get this additional programme up and running straight away. If there was any other option available to us, we’d take it.
“We will lift the road closure and rely on temporary traffic lights at every available opportunity to help traffic flow around this badger issue whenever we can.”
The badger-damage repair works on Seaholme Road will start on Saturday, November 8 and have a scheduled end date of Wednesday, November 20. Work times onsite will be from 9am to 4pm, subject to suitable weather.
An emergency road closure will be put in place between 9am and 4pm with three-way traffic lights meaning that the road can be used outside of those hours. Councillor Davies added: “Thankfully, we have been able to work our current and emergency plans so that there is no direct impact on the Remembrance Sunday services, other than the diversion routes being in place during this time.
“Thank you to all who are affected by these works. Your patience and understanding of the issues faced is very appreciated by us in Highways and we will get this job delivered promptly.”
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