Neighbours living next to Colliery Way have opened up about the difficulties they have faced since the £49 million route opened. Residents in Lambley Lane, near Gedling Village, say they have struggled to even get off their driveways as cars now use a roundabout on the road to get on and off the bypass, originally known as the Gedling Access Road.
People living near the new roundabout and junction to Colliery Way have reported queuing traffic leading up to it with cars waiting to join, as well as cars going past their homes at speed, which they say is making it unsafe - and very hard to go on to from their driveway. A section of Lambley Lane, which is accessed off Arnold Lane on one side and Colliery Way on the other, has a number of houses along one side, as well as adjoining residential roads such as Jesop's Lane and Glebe Farm View.
Residents in these homes say traffic is unsurprisingly worse during peak times and queues have become substantially big ever since the road, which links Mapperley Plains and Trent Valley Road, officially opened to the public last month. Keith Belton, 70, who is retired, and lives on Lambley Lane, said: "There's been a lot of problems.
Police stop speeding motorists on busy road amid resident concerns - read more here.
"There have been lorries that have parked outside my house so I can't get off my driveway - but that has got better since the road has opened. It isn't so busy on our side because it's blocked off on this, but over the other side it's always busy going up that way - it can be wheel-to-wheel."
Another resident, who wished to remain anonymous, told Nottinghamshire Live about how big of an impact the increased traffic has had on his life. Pointing at the car parked on his driveway, he said: "that's a loan car." He said he was involved in an accident last week, his first in the past 30 years, when his car was hit as he attempted to get it off his driveway and onto Lambley Lane.
He continued: "No-one lets you out. If this is what it is going to be like from now on, then I can't live here. When the council talk about less traffic, they always talk about Gedling village, or Spring Lane or Burton Road - it's never Lambley Lane.
"It's been horrendous - absolutely horrendous. You have to put up with lorries, noise, dust and construction for two and a half years and then traffic is like this. They don't want to share it out because there aren't that many houses along here - but there are still people living here."
Sue Marshall, 78, who lives on Lambley Lane, told Nottinghamshire Live: "It's not too bad in the daytime, but it is first thing in the morning up until about 9am and then in the afternoon it is awful. If it's clear one way there are always cars coming the other way! I've been here for two years so it's always been going on - it was obviously really nice and quiet here when they closed the road for all those months.
"To be honest with you, I think it's just a by-product of the new road being built - so it doesn't bother me too much. I think these things happen when you get a big development like this."
"It's a lot busier than it used to be," said another resident, who wished to remain anonymous and has lived on the road for more than 10 years. "I think it's because they haven't opened the roundabout at the top, which I think is supposed to open properly around June time.
"At the moment what's happening is that traffic that is coming to Carlton or Gedling is coming off here. Hopefully, once everything is opened up properly, the signs and sat-navs will take them another way. It's a real pain, to be honest, especially at peak times. But hopefully, it's temporary."
Arnold Lane will remain closed until later this summer, according to Nottinghamshire County Council. The full closure of the busy road has been in place since March 23 between its junction with Mapperley Plains and Linsdale Gardens.
As part of the works, the junction of Arnold Lane, Mapperley Plains and Gedling Road will be upgraded. After reports of some drivers using Nottingham Road to make a U-turn and travel onto Burton Road, the council encouraged local traffic - excluding HGVs - to exit Colliery Way at the Lambley Lane junction instead of using Nottingham Road to perform a U-turn. This is until the new tie with Colliery Way and Arnold Lane opens from the new five-arm roundabout.
Gary Wood, Head of Highways and Transport, said: “Works are currently ongoing to connect Arnold Lane to the new five-arm roundabout on Colliery Way. While these works are taking place, Arnold Lane is closed between its junction with Mapperley Plains and Linsdale Gardens.
“Diversion routes for motorists are in place on the strategic road network so as to not positively encourage traffic to use Lambley Lane and Arnold Lane, as these are routes which have a significant number of residential frontages, pedestrian activity, bus stops and local amenities.
“We have made every effort to encourage as much traffic as possible to avoid local routes given that Colliery Way is now open and provides a safe, suitable diversion route to Arnold Lane.Details of diversion routes can be found on our new Frequently Asked Questions page here. ”
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