Long-time residents on a narrow village street plagued by 'horrendous' traffic say they are beginning to notice the positive impacts of the recently opened £49m bypass in Gedling. MPs and councillors had argued for years Colliery Way, formerly the Gedling Access Road, would alleviate traffic through Gedling Village and now, one week in, residents have revealed whether these claims had any merit.
Colliery Way, a 3.8km bypass from Mapperley Plains to the Colwick Loop Road, had been in the pipeline since as early as the 1930s. It had undergone various and significant changes, including a route alteration, before construction finally began almost a century later in January of 2020.
It came to be not without issue, however, with soaring costs and a delay due to the coronavirus pandemic. But the bypass has finally opened, as planned, with various economical and ecological benefits to the area.
Read more: What happened as Colliery Way opened
Those living in the centre of the former mining village were perhaps hoping for more direct benefits, having lived on a slender and winding road which soon became a thoroughfare for huge lorries and thousands of cars every single day. Residents of Shearing Hill, which runs from Burton Road and into the village where it joins Main Road, were therefore some of the best people to ask about whether the promised benefits have started to arise.
Frank Shaw, 83, converted a derelict building into a picturesque cottage on the corner of Shearing Hill with his wife, Joan, who sadly passed away four weeks ago. They had lived on the road for 40 years.
Mr Shaw, an electrician-come-salesman before his retirement, told Nottinghamshire Live: "When we first came here it was a quiet village road, you had a few cars and village vans, and the council in their wisdom and stupidity built half a bypass.
"They made [Shearing Hill] into an A-road and there was never a consultation around that. We campaigned for the bypass. In the end we had to sleep round the back. We had 44-tonne lorries thundering down. Great big things.
"We were told 15,000 vehicles passed down the road. We knew this when we bought the house back in 1981, but we thought we would move, but we never did."
Mr Shaw believes the new bypass has indeed began to ease traffic along the street. "It has made a difference," he added. "The traffic has decreased quite a lot. It has quietened down. In the summer of you were in the back garden the noise was horrendous and it is lovely here.
"It has been a long time coming. There is still a lot of car traffic but it has reduced the big, heavy traffic. They were putting weight limit and speed signs down here too. It has not been a village for a long time. It is still busy but it is better. I think it is very, very good. It has been landscaped very well."
Richard Klemba, 74, has perhaps experienced the very worst of such a busy, winding a narrow road in the past. He says two cars have crashed into his garden, while a van smashed through the front of his house and into his living room many years ago. Does he too believe it has helped? Not quite yet, he says, but he is hopeful.
"There are more quieter periods," the former ordinance surveyor added. "I have had my issues here. My house has been hit by cars twice. I was in the Evening Post many years ago, when my children were young, because they were not allowed to play on the front lawn.
"It has stopped huge lorries coming by and as people get used to it that should help. We will see. People have been campaigning for so long. I've been here for 40 years and it has taken my 30 to get used to the traffic. It was not that busy when I first came here 40 years ago."
Labour councillor for Gedling, Jenny Hollingsworth, who also lives in the village, added: "I am pleased people are thinking positively about it. It was a big expense and it is good to know people believe it is worth it."
