More than £10 million will be spent on improvements to Nottinghamshire roundabouts and junctions. Nottinghamshire County Council announced on Thursday, June 22, it will invest an additional £10.8 million into the A614/A6097 improvement scheme to fund upgrades to a roundabout in Ollerton, White Post roundabout, Warren Hill junction, Lowdham roundabout and Kirk Hill junction.
£5.8 million of this extra investment will go towards improving the design of the scheme in response to consultation feedback, as well as funding changes required to secure planning permission, and mitigating an increase in costs due to inflationary pressures and project management fees.
The County Council has said these improvements include additional measures to protect residential properties near the scheme, a revised drainage and landscaping strategy in Lowdham, a new Pegasus crossing, bridleway and landscaping at Kirk Hill to aid horse riders and an increased Biodiversity Net Gain mitigation scheme at Ollerton Roundabout to secure benefits for nature and wildlife habitat. The changes to the Mickledale Lane junction will now include traffic signals, which were strongly supported by local road users during the original consultation due to their benefits in creating easy access to and from local villages.
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Traffic signals had been removed in order to fulfil the Department for Transport’s (DfT) journey time saving requirements that were needed to secure Government funding. Nottinghamshire County Council has now said it will fund them itself at a cost of approximately £5 million. A consultation on a new design layout for the junction will take place later this year.
Councillor Keith Girling, the County Council's Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Asset Management, said: “This extra £5.8 million reflects Nottinghamshire County Council’s absolute commitment to delivering the A614/A6097 improvement scheme.
"We will continue to push forward with this vitally important scheme to improve local and regional connectivity and support growth and investment in Nottinghamshire. Improving access to training and jobs, and helping businesses to move goods more efficiently, is central to making our local economy stronger.
“Inflationary pressures are currently being experienced across the construction and civil engineering sector and economy in general, so the fact that costs have increased over the last three years doesn’t come as a surprise. Our further investment just goes to show our commitment to removing peak period traffic congestion along this busy route, significantly improving journey time for commuters and local businesses and unlocking major development sites nearby.
“We're committed to maximising the benefits of these much-needed junction improvements and our revised approach reflects the need to secure DfT funding, ensuring overall scheme viability, value for money and deliverable improvements that will benefit residents and all road users.” The full business case for the A614/A6097 scheme is expected to be submitted to the DfT later this year with works due to start in Spring 2024.
