Editing Grantham (section)

===Road===
The Great North Road was routed through the town in 1196. The turnpike to the north reached the town in 1725, that to Stamford in 1739, to Nottingham in 1758, and that to Melton in 1780.

The [[A1 road (Great Britain)|A1]] main road from London to [[Edinburgh]] runs past the town, which was bypassed in 1962. The [[A52 road|A52]] linking Nottingham and the East Coast was diverted from High Street onto the Inner Relief Road, Sankt Augustin Way, in 1998. Wharf Road and London Road junction is still a busy junction on the [[A607 road|A607]] for Lincoln. Motorway-style [[Grantham North Services]], at the north end of Grantham bypass, is on a new junction which replaced a roundabout in May 2008.<ref>{{cite web |date=1 April 2008 |title=Highways Agency – Gonerby Moor Progress Photos |url=http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/17538.aspx |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090709110058/http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/projects/17538.aspx |archive-date=9 July 2009 |access-date=30 July 2009 |publisher=Highways.gov.uk }}</ref>

Grantham, with [[Stamford, Lincolnshire|Stamford]], had been earmarked for a bypass before the war in 1939. There were 60 serious accidents a year, with three to four deaths. After the war, on 21 November 1945, there was a meeting at the Guildhall about the proposed bypass of the London-Edinburgh-Thurso trunk road for Grantham and Great Gonerby. This was the first enquiry into a trunk road scheme in the country after the war. The proposed route followed the current line, from [[Little Ponton]] to College Farm, except it was to be a single carriageway road.{{citation needed|date=May 2012}}

On 8 February 1960, it was announced that a bypass would be built, including the route south to the [[B6403 road|B6403]] at [[Colsterworth]]. [[Robert McGregor & Sons|Robert McGregor and Sons Ltd]] of Manchester would build the road for £1,856,009. (The company went on to build Newark bypass in 1964.) The bridges were built by [[Simon Carves]] of [[Cheadle Hulme]]. It was formally opened on 10 October 1962 by [[James Heathcote-Drummond-Willoughby, 3rd Earl of Ancaster]], then the [[Lord Lieutenant of Lincolnshire]] (from 1950 to 1975).<ref>{{cite web |title=Concrete Quarterly 55, page 32 |url=http://www.concretecentre.com/PDF/cq_055.PDF |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110704230206/http://www.concretecentre.com/PDF/cq_055.PDF |archive-date=4 July 2011 |access-date=21 June 2017 }}</ref> He was married to the (only) daughter of [[Nancy Astor, Viscountess Astor|Nancy Astor]].

Various attempts at one-way systems in Grantham have been introduced, but traffic delays are still commonplace. Low railway bridges also add to traffic difficulties, with lorries becoming stuck under them. Many promises have been made by the local council for a Grantham bypass road. The latest, the Grantham Southern Relief Road, has been in planning since 2007. Phase one of the project was completed in 2016 which provided access to some commercial facilitates and a new roundabout on the B1174.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schubert |first=Chris |title=Grantham Southern Relief Road |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/major-projects/grantham-southern-relief-road |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=Lincolnshire County Council }}</ref> Phase Two, started in October 2019, involves a new grade separated junction on the A1 and is due to be opened on 20 December 2022. Phase three for the main stretch of road started in 2021 and due to be completed by 2023. In July 2022 it was found that ground conditions at a new viaduct were for as expected, and the project would be delayed as the viaduct would need to be redesigned.<ref>{{cite web |last=Schubert |first=Chris |title=Unexpected engineering issue for Grantham Southern Relief Road project |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/news/article/1133/unexpected-engineering-issue-for-grantham-southern-relief-road-project |access-date=6 December 2022 |website=Lincolnshire County Council }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |last=Schubert |first=Chris |title=Grantham Southern Relief Road |url=https://www.lincolnshire.gov.uk/major-projects/grantham-southern-relief-road |access-date=21 December 2020 |website=Lincolnshire County Council }}</ref>