Residents and business owners in Sherwood say they remain unconvinced by plans for a 20mph speed limit on a “high-risk” route and have called on the council to install speed cameras or speed bumps instead.
Business owners have been addressing the issues amid reports of heavy traffic, with the A60 Mansfield Road especially busy at this time of year due to people travelling to and from the city centre to visit the Christmas Winter Wonderland in Old Market Square, and congestion stemming from wider roadworks.
Nottingham City Council was given money by the Department for Transport (DfT) earlier this year to improve the safety of two city roads.
One of them was Mansfield Road through Sherwood, where many traffic incidents have been reported.
The funding from the DfT could be used to install a new 20mph limit, as well as improvements such as new road crossings, updated signs, better road markings and resurfacing work.
Progress is yet to be made on the improvements, and the council says they should be delivered in the next two years.
In an update, city council officials confirmed that, once plans have been formalised, the authority will seek the views of the public.
But residents and business owners have doubts over the effectiveness of the proposals.
Speed bumps and speed cameras were common suggestions.
“I used to live upstairs; there has always been traffic and accidents,” Sanita Oakley, of Sanita’s Flowers, said.
“The speed they came down the road was crazy, especially at night. But I don’t think a 20mph limit would work.
“Speed bumps are too painful for cars. I think cameras would help.”
Nicole Stillwell, who has lived in Sherwood for 25 years and also works at Sanita’s Flowers, agreed. She said: “They should leave it at 30mph. There are enough traffic lights. If anything were to help, it would be speed bumps or cameras.”
Reza Tavakoli, a Sherwood business owner and accountant, also said lowering the speed limit would fail to make any real change.
“It’s because there are so many junctions,” he said.
“There is too much traffic coming into the road out of junctions. I don’t think a 20mph limit would help.
“Speed bumps would be much better because we don’t have any. I haven’t seen anyone going above 30mph because it is so busy.
“You could make the junctions one-way to stop so many people coming both in and out of them.”
Walter Wheat, who has lived in the area since 1982, added: “We do get some racers.
“Cameras would be the best thing. They try and jump the lights. I don’t think 20mph would make much difference.”
In total, the Labour-run council was given more than £2.8 million by the Department for Transport to make safety improvements on problem roads.
A council report released in March outlined that, up to this point since January 2018, there had been a total of 281 incidents on the section of Mansfield Road through Sherwood.
In this period, council figures had shown one incident resulted in a fatality, 41 in serious injuries and 239 in slight injuries. Of the 41 serious injuries, 28 involved pedestrians or cyclists.
However, some people do believe a speed limit change could be beneficial.
Haji Silem, who works in a vape shop, said: “Everyone is rushing, especially in the morning. I’ve been working here for two to three months, and I’ve seen two or three accidents.
“The 30mph limit should be 20mph, but speed bumps could slow people down.
“I’ve heard the council is coming, but they should hurry up.”
Senior councillors formally accepted the funding and agreed to begin initial design work back in March this year, but this is yet to begin.
The council says the 20mph limit is just one of a number of potential options for addressing safety in the area, and once it has worked up firm plans it will engage the public and get their views.
A report from March says improvements will be delivered between 2026 and 2028.
