Council ridiculed after spending £50m on ‘bridge to nowhere’ ...Middle East

A council is facing criticism after spending £50m on a “bridge to nowhere” because it has no more money to finish the project.

Officials have had ambitions for a “western relief road” to ease congestion on the A16 around Spalding, Lincolnshire, for 14 years.

The 7.3-mile route is set to cost at least £110m and Lincolnshire County Council decided to split construction into five sections.

Work on the “north” section, including a bridge over the Lincoln to Peterborough rail line, began in 2022 and was finished last year at a cost of around £50m.

However, officials have now admitted they only have £27.7m to put towards building the next section of the project and estimated costs have risen to between £50m and £60m.

To date, there has been no guarantee of external funding from the Government and the council has admitted no further construction is likely to take place until 2028.

The farce was highlighted by YouTuber Jon Jefferson on his channel Auto Shenanigans. Visiting the site, Mr Jefferson said the bridge “doesn’t and isn’t doing anything, and it won’t do anything until 2030 at the earliest”.

“At least we now have the most expensive most pointless bridge in the UK, could become a tourist attraction,” one resident commented on the story on the Spalding Guardian.

Reform UK have recently taken political control of Lincolnshire County Council with its leadership pledging to tackle local government “waste”.

The authority had previously been led by the Conservatives since 1997.

The council’s highways department said: “Construction of the north section of the Spalding western relief road was completed in October 2024. In the approved 2025-26 council budget, there is currently £27.7m earmarked towards building the southern section of the Spalding western relief road in the future.

“However, the current estimated cost of building this section is between £50m and £60m, which means external funding will be needed.

“That is why we are continuing to work closely with South Holland District Council to identify funding opportunities, including remaining in touch with Homes England.

“In addition, no funding has yet been allocated or secured for the middle sections of the relief road as these are intended to be built in the long term, as outlined in the South East Lincolnshire local plan.”

The council said the project’s northern section had opened up land allocated for housing in south-east Lincolnshire for an initial 1,100 dwellings.

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