Dr Luke Evans, the Member of Parliament for Hinckley, has raised the issue of the A5 railway bridge in Hinckley – ‘the most bashed bridge in Britain’ – in the chamber of the House of Commons again.
This time questioning the Secretary of State for Transport, the Rt Hon Grant Shapps MP, Dr Luke asked what steps the Government would be taking to prevent the bridge which has been struck 25 times in the past year not winning the title again in twelve months’ time?
In his response Mr Shapps outlined that in addition to twenty million pounds of funding for the A5, the Office of the Traffic Commission have written to heavy goods vehicle and public service vehicle operators warning them of regulatory action should they fail to heed warnings; and Highways England’s plans for measures to reduce the number of strikes on the bridge.
Dr Luke said “It’s time to get a grip on the most bashed bridge. I very much welcome the Secretary of State’s announcement this morning but will keep on pushing the issue until the ‘most bashed bridge’ accolade is nothing more than an alliterative footnote in Hinckley’s history.”