Funding has been confirmed for planning work on a fourth road bridge over the River Trent in Nottingham.
Nottinghamshire County Council has confirmed money has been allocated for the project in the form of feasibility work – which will look at the possibility of a route over the river at Colwick.
In a full council meeting on Thursday (March 20) it was announced the council would get an extra £15.2 million from the East Midlands Combined County Authority for the county’s roads.
It has been confirmed the feasibility study will come from part of a £1 million package that has been allocated for transport development projects across the region.
Councillor Mike Adams (Con) said it had taken him six years of campaigning to reach the announcement that a fourth bridge would be assessed.
He said: “This is probably the biggest project Nottinghamshire, definitely Gedling, maybe the East Midlands has seen, because of the size of it- the opportunity just for business [is big] because there’s a massive industrial area in Colwick.”
Cllr Adams wants to see the building of a new bridge “as soon as possible”, adding he would like to see the construction start “within the next 10 years” but acknowledges no timeframes can be given at present.
Traffic has increased 12.5 per cent on the A612 Colwick Loop Road over the past year alone.
A fourth crossing would be designed to ease congestion and improve connectivity for Colwick, Netherfield, Gedling, Stoke Bardolph, Rivendell, and Burton Joyce, connecting the A612 to either the A46 or A52.
Cllr Adams says the proposals would lessen the need for HGVs to drive through small villages and areas – like Gunthorpe and Lady Bay – by giving lorry drivers a more direct route.
The closure of Clifton Bridge in February 2020 temporarily made Nottingham one of the most congested cities in the world, and highlighted the city’s reliance on the three exisiting road crossings – Trent Bridge, Lady Bay Bridge and the Clifton Bridge.
Cllr Adams says an extra bridge would add more “resilience” to the wider road system across Nottinghamshire – including lesser need for road maintenance works – and will help business growth.
He said: “If we lose one of these major bridges, if you close those routes down the knock-on effect across Nottinghamshire is massive.
“It’s adding that extra resilience, it ensures if we lose one of those major routes it doesn’t cause that mass congestion across the county.
“Those businesses would have felt it when Clifton Bridge closed, how much sales they lost, they’ll have a number on that.”
Cllr Adams says a potential route for a new bridge could form at the back of Netherfield Retail Park.
Council Leader, Sam Smith (Con), said in a statement: “This [feasibility] study is an essential step in addressing growing traffic pressures on the A612 and wider road network. I’d like to thank Cllr Adams for the role he has played in making this happen.”
The potential cost and timeframe for a new bridge is currently unknown as feasibility works have not yet started, but the council says further updates on the feasibility study and the wider transport investment programme are expected later in the year.
