The idiots at Nottingham City Council (NCC) just haven’t got a clue! From Monday, the Bardills roundabout on the A52 towards Derby will see the start of three weeks of major road works.
The A52 is (or was) the only way to get to Long Eaton without being gridlocked by overrunning tram works in Beeston and Chilwell. But not anymore. You 
see, the A52 along Clifton Boulevard is currently backed up to Clifton Bridge every rush hour, and from anywhere between 3pm (when the mummies start the school run) and 7.30pm (when the flow finally eases) entirely as a result of Tramicide (that’s a word I coined to simplify what the tram stands for). Of course, if there is an event on at Nottingham’s Ice Arena – one of the worst-sited entertainment venues in the known universe – then traffic can be much worse, as city-bound roads also become gridlocked.
Much of the ring road traffic is trying to get on to University Boulevard, which is gridlocked due to tram works.That which isn’t is trying to get on to Derby Road to go to… well, Derby. Or to Strelley and Broxtowe, which are blocked off at Aspley Lane due to part 1 of “ring road junction improvements”. That which remains on the Middleton Boulevard will notice a recently-erected sign declares that the next part of “ring road improvements” is due to begin this month before any single one of the others is anywhere near completion.
And to make matters worse, there is a sign on the A60 as you approach the Nottingham Knight roundabout – some 8 miles from Bardills – which advises motorists of the road works and to find an “alternative route”. Where, for God’s sake. The imbeciles have got every “alternative route” blocked!
It’s pathetic. Such incompetence is hard to imagine in any single organisation or individual, and yet NCC appears to be staffed completely by such individuals. So this story on the BBC website makes you smile in an ironic sort of way.
Just a reminder of an article I wrote back in November last year – almost 12 months ago to the day. Cllr Jane Urquhart was then quoted regarding the impending closure of the main Chilwell road:
We’re going to maintain the maximum possible access… we’re continuing to have the discussions and work with our County Council highways colleagues and the tram project team…
Well, as I say, a year down the line, Chilwell is STILL closed, and so are numerous other roads in Beeston and Chilwell. All have been long term closures, with absolutely no end in sight. Exactly the same is true of Clifton where, I believe, the Clifton Chinese on Varney Road has closed permanently due to the loss of business caused by tram works there. Other retailers have previously mentioned their own reduced takings – in some cases down from hundreds of pounds a day (in Clifton) to just a few tens. And Wilford is similarly gridlocked by the insane attempts to “maintain the maximum possible access”.
All the traffic prevented from going one way, and then another, and then yet another, is being funnelled into an ever decreasing number of bottlenecks. That’s why Nottingham is at a standstill every night. And as the BBC report says, many of these closures are expected to last into next year.
So it is hilarious to see Urquhart – now a much braver soul than the frightened rabbit she was this time last year – pontificating one more time.
All the works are part of a £750m investment to build a better Nottingham and deliver a world-class integrated transport system for the city.
The work we are doing causes disruption while we are doing it but it’s always our aim of giving us a better transport system for the future.
One thing that hasn’t changed is the utter bollocks she habitually spouts. It is difficult to fathom how such ineffectual specimens as her rise to positions like the one she holds, when they are clearly useless at what they do (and the growing road chaos caused by the group of which she is the “leader” is proof enough of that statement). Her idea of “better” is six steps back, then one step forward. And that’s if we’re lucky.
The tram – both the original, and Phase II (which is primarily responsible for the current chaos) is a monumental waste of money and resources. Once the gleam wears off the new stuff, it looks shabby and ill-kept. All the original tram installations look filthy, and the trains themselves a mess as they don their oft-changed advertising livery. The green LED illuminations on the bridges are long gone (or broken). The trains are nearly always empty – even if they are busy during rush hour, it’s only on one or two stages, and the average is pulled down by the dearth of passengers 80% of the time. That’s why fares have gone up to the point where passengers are seeking alternative modes of transport. Trams are NOT environmentally friendly to start with – and they are even less so when there is no one on them.
And as a closing comment, out on the roads today I saw two Severn Trent repair sites with the ubiquitous temporary lights – and a flood on Mapperley Plains at the junction with Coppice Road, which is really going to cause hold ups when Severn Trent dig up that road.