- Plans will allow pedestrians to cross the level crossing at all times. Photo via “Ingy the Wingy” (Flickr)
Plans for a new footbridge over Lincoln’s high street level crossing have been approved.
The crossing, which once had a footbridge 30 years ago, will have a new crossing built in an attempt to improve safety and ease congestion in the area.
Network rail had voiced concerns over the crossing, describing it as one of the “worst level crossings for instances of misuse” in the city. Lincoln MP Karl McCartney also stated that he felt an alternative route has been “needed for many years.”
Rachel Lowe from the Network Rail press office explained that “these crossings are the safest design they can be but we see regular instances of misuse. People climbing over the barriers, even lifting the barriers once they’ve come down and that means the signaller simply can’t stop trains.”
Approval comes after plans for another footbridge in the Brayford area were accepted last March. Rachel hopes that alternative routes would not only improve safety for pedestrians using the level crossing, but also ease traffic congestion in the city centre.
“We’re also very aware of the fact that the barrier downtime on those crossings also causes disruption to the city centre itself, so we’ve been working very closely with the county council, the city council and local stakeholders like Karl McCartney MP to try and find the solution that would help to free up the flow of pedestrians around the city centre.”