The long-running saga of the potential dualling of the A453 could be set to be coming to an end after Nottinghamshire County Council took the unusual step of offering a £20 million contribution to the Government to bring forward the scheme to widen the road. After coming into power, the Collation put plans on hold to turn the road into a dual carriageway, as part of their money saving implementations.
The road, which runs through the edge of Clifton and links the south of Nottingham with the M1, has been a top priority for improvement in the East Midlands for many years. The Nottinghamshire section of the road is the second most congested part of the national road network after a short section of the M25. It also has a poor safety record and high volumes of traffic.
Nottinghamshire County Council leader, Kay Cutts, said: “The A453 is the weakest link in the regional road network and the road, in its current state, is severely limiting the economic recovery and development of the area.
“Its widening is fundamental to unlocking the huge economic potential of our vibrant county. We already know that the traffic delays encountered, especially by businesses, are having a detrimental effect upon inward investment.”
It is forecast that up to 30,000 vehicles a day will travel along the route by 2027, making congestion even worse. The proposed scheme would have the capacity to safely handle this increase in numbers and attract traffic back to the A453, reducing the volume of traffic on a number of local roads. It will also improve access to East Midlands Parkway station.
In the five years up to October 2010, there were 185 accidents involving personal injury on just the Nottinghamshire part of the A453.
Following last autumn’s spending review, the A453 scheme was put on hold, along with 13 other schemes across the country, where no decision to go ahead is expected until at least 2015, after the next General Election. But since then the Department for Transport has indicated it would like to identify a small number of reserve schemes where construction could potentially start earlier if circumstances allowed.
Councillor Cutts added: “Nottinghamshire County Council is keen to do everything in its power to expedite this situation. Our contribution would be raised through borrowing and repaid over a number of years because of the challenging budgetary pressures we’re currently facing.
“This is a major financial decision for us and we don’t underestimate the significance of this offer at a time of much-needed capital support for our schools, libraries, youth centres and older people’s facilities.”
The scheme to dual the road has already been subject to a public inquiry and is one of only a few nationally which would effectively be ready to go, placing it in a strong position to be one of the accelerated reserve schemes. A decision from the Government as to whether any of the reserve schemes will be accelerated for early construction is expected this year.
Shoppers at the ‘Top Shops’ in Clifton had mixed views on the latest hopes that the road will finally be turned into dual-carriageway.
Dave said: “I think this is great news and long overdue. It is good to see the Council doing something about a big problem.”
Val added: “Finally there seems to be light at the end of the tunnel. All those hours wasted queuing to get back to my house will be a thing of the past.”
But some residents were not so keen. Geoff told The Local News: “I have to be honest and say I am disappointed. I thought we may have seen the last of this with the Government cuts. Some people in Clifton may think it is great but the people living opposite the road will be horrified. Houses will have to go, gardens will be cut down and that lovely green area with trees will be lost, very sad.”

I don’t understand why people want to see the A453 turned into a dual-carriageway, especially people who live in Clifton. It is already a monster of a road with trucks, coaches and thousands of cars travelling on it every week, so why make it worse?

At least now with it being a single lane road, some of the bigger lorries tend to avoid it.
R. Johnson