Work costing £100,000 has started to install new bollards along Nottingham's Victoria Embankment as part of efforts to reduce car journeys in the area. Nottingham City Council says the project started on Monday (March 13) and it involves bollards being installed near Wilford Grove, the war memorial and the suspension bridge.
All the work is being funded by the Government's Active Travel Fund, with efforts to reduce traffic along the Victoria Embankment first beginning in 2020. That year, the council used Government funding to close off the Victoria Embankment as a thoroughfare between Queen's Drive and Trent Bridge.
The move was part of a nationwide push during the coronavirus pandemic to encourage more walking and cycling and Nottingham City Council now says it is making these traffic reduction measures permanent. A spokesperson for the authority said: "Removing 4,000 car journeys a day through one of the council’s popular parks has been welcomed by many, with 53 percent supporting proposals to make the changes permanent in a consultation.
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"The move has encouraged cycling and made the environment quieter and safer for people enjoying a riverside walk, the Memorial Gardens and the park facilities. Work began installing new wooden bollards on Monday to replace the temporary measures, which were looking shabby and sometimes got moved, with something permanent which is widely used and suitable for open space environments like Victoria Embankment."
The council also says the current work will include the creation of new pavements at the rear of the car parking bays on Wilford Grove, with the overall project expected to last up to four weeks. The new project comes amid wider work at the Victoria Embankment, including the restoration of its memorial gardens and improvements to the Queen's Walk play area.
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