Neighbours living on one of Nottinghamshire's steepest roads have detailed its 'perilous' state after it was closed due to icy conditions. Both ends of Freda Avenue in Gedling, which slopes at a slightly alarming angle towards Shelford Road, were cordoned off on Wednesday, January 18.
It had also been smattered with grit, which had only partially removed a layer of ice across the bumpy and uneven road surface. Further down the road, at the junction with Freda Close, a damaged car with a crumpled bumper was being towed away - which a resident claimed had been one of the three cars which had crashed during the same morning.
Neighbours said it took time to get used to the potentially dangerous road, but other locals said they avoided the road even in better conditions. Callum Bruce, 34, a data analyst who lives off Freda Avenue, said he tripped on the road just the other day.
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“I did go a**e over elbow yesterday. But if you are older it could really do sort damage," Mr Bruce said.
"I don’t drive, but you could lose control of your car as well fairly easily. It’s a difficult walk if you’re not used to it.”
Retiree David Stott, 76, who has lived on Freda Avenue since he was a teenager, said: “It is perilous but you have to use common sense and park at the top and walk down if you need to. Snow is not as bad but ice you can’t escape from on this road.
"They don’t usually close it but there has always been smashes and walls being knocked down by people losing control. Everybody that has lived here knows to plan ahead, but the road is also in need of repair so that makes it worse.”
Further concerns were raised by another neighbour who agreed the state of the road surface added to the problem. Bill Fern, 81, who has lived on Freda Avenue since 1976, said: “It is a right mess at the moment.
"As you get older it feels even steeper, but we still have a lot of elderly people living here despite that. I think this road can be dangerous if you do not know it well.
"It is terrible for potholes too, which adds to it. There could be real trouble if you were old and fell, but it keeps you fit.”
A spokesperson for Nottinghamshire County Council said: "Freda Avenue wasn’t gritted last night as it is not a main route and our gritters only salted main routes yesterday evening. It is however on a severe weather route and we hand salted it earlier today and will do so again tomorrow morning if required as further icy conditions are expected this evening.
"Main routes are A and B roads and major bus routes and severe weather routes include one road to every major settlement, some steep residential roads and access routes to special schools.
"You can find more information about gritting on our website: https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/transport/gritting/about."
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