Scanner's comments are short and sweet -- and bad news on the roads

I have two questions/comments concerning the resignation of Councillor Jordan and the elevation of Councillor Owen to the lofty position of Deputy Leader.
The first is; if we are to believe Councillor Jordan on how onerous and time consuming the Deputy Leader’s workload is, surely this is not the right time for her to take on even more responsibilities?
Surely Councillor Owen should be devoting more of her time to putting her own housing service in order after the bashing it has just received while under her guardianship?
Secondly: After Councillor Jordan’s comments about the council’s possible bankruptcy, and, I assume this is a subject he has some knowledge of, is he leaving the 'bridge' before it sinks completely - leaving the captain looking on helplessly as his crew gradually abandon ship? Scanner
"Scanner" ias the pseudonym of one of our regular contributors.
Changing the subject, we note that today is the first Highways, Transport and Technology Scrutiny meeting of the newly elected Lincolnshire County Council, which will see the attendance of Boston Councillor Ramonde (Major retired in Boston, but not in Lincoln) Newell. Councillor Newell, if you remember, renounced his BBI status and banded with the Independents at County Hall and succeeded in getting a coveted place on the committee from which he hopes to pursue Boston's claims for a by-pass.
We wish him luck when we read the news at the weekend that even main roads in Lincolnshire are "unlikely" to ever be dualled because of a cash shortfall, which shows just how much of a pipedream the bypass ideal really is.
New figures have revealed the cost of updating Lincolnshire's main 'A' roads to two lanes would be more than £6.5 billion.
But regional funding allocated for road builds in the East Midlands over the next 10 years is just £700 million – a drop in the ocean.
Assistant director for highways and traffic Paul Coathup said: "As our current regional funding allocation for the next 10 years is only around £700m this work is unlikely to happen in the foreseeable future."
As far as spending is concerned, roads like the A17 head the list for dualling with recent estimates of £1 billion for the 50 mile stretch.
Then there are other roads identified as being in need of upgrading including the A15 at £1.18bn, A57 between Lincoln and Gainsborough (£175m) and the A158 Lincoln to Skegness coastal route, which is estimated at £787m.
We fear that Councillor Newell has a hard road ahead.

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