Hold on to your gaskets: It's the four-month A52 crawl
DRIVERS face 16 weeks of delays as a major roadworks scheme begins on the A52 tomorrow.
The £3.4 million project on the two-and-a-half-mile stretch from Bramcote island to the Queen's Medical Centre roundabout is aimed at reducing congestion.
But it is the fourth major project on the road since 2010, with other work including resurfacing, upgrading street lighting and maintaining road markings.
Matt Gilman, manager at the Toby Carvery, in Wollaton Park, said local businesses would prefer for road schemes to be done in one hit to prevent ongoing disruption.
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"It would be better to do them all at once.
"They seem to drag roadworks out and do different projects all the time," he said.
Highways Agency project manager Len Murray said the work would reduce delays by more than 10 per cent and improve safety.
"Tackling congestion and improving safety are top priorities for the Highways Agency," he said.
"We will be installing a system that uses electronic sensors to adjust the timing of the signals in response to changing traffic levels. This should reduce delays by more than 10 per cent, making journey times more reliable.
"We realise this work will have an impact on the 38,000 vehicles a day that use this section of the A52, which is why the work and lane closures will be limited to off-peak hours and overnight to minimise delays."
There will be off-peak lane closures and, on a few occasions, both carriageways will be closed overnight.
The eastbound bus lane will be temporarily suspended.
A 30mph speed limit will be used throughout the work, which is expected to cause delays of up to 30 minutes.
The plans also involve widening sections of carriageway to increase capacity at various locations.
The eastbound bus lane will be shortened by about 80 metres on the approach to the Priory island to add capacity for all vehicles.
Extra pedestrian and cycle crossings will also be provided.
Comments
by observer72
Tuesday, July 19 2011, 8:07PM
“timofbrum;..Eh? Wot?”
by timofbrum
Tuesday, July 19 2011, 4:05PM
“As a country we shell out trillions a year to enable personalised motor vehicle transportation. It's the country's largest single outgoing expense by a sizable distance.”
by Johnatwork
Tuesday, July 19 2011, 1:53PM
“What a complete waste of money, and for what, a one minute improvement. It's clear to me they don't give a dam about congestion and they are adding even more crossings, have the factored in how much this will add to their figures. Thanks for nothing County Council.”
by neilant
Tuesday, July 19 2011, 12:53AM
“"the work would reduce delays by more than 10%"........ So lets just say that you,re normally delayed for 10 minutes.. This means that in future you will only be delayed for less than 9 minutes.... Or 15 down to less than 13 & a half....
I hope this makes it all worthwhile for everyone, its definitely worth every penny of £3.4 million isnt it?”
by alpha012
Monday, July 18 2011, 9:45PM
“Why have they put a pic up of an island that's not involved? If I'm not mistaken, and it has been years since I've been past it, that's the Bardill's roundabout between Stapleford and Toton, the work begins at the Bramcote island which is the next one up!”
by bob123445
Monday, July 18 2011, 7:28PM
“Relay the A52 between QMC and Priory... why didnt they add the new sensors in the new tarmac... instead lets narrow it down to put them in later.... brilliant planning...
Interesting to see how adding a short bus lane off QMC island just to the uni gates will speed up anything, apart from buses exiting the lane into the slow moving traffic up the narrow 2 lanes in rush hour.... sounds like brilliant waste of money and will probably be removed after 6/12 months...”
by iancarlton
Monday, July 18 2011, 7:02PM
“Considering all of these schemes will have been 'planned' well in advance there's no excuse to have 4 different closures / roadworks. What do the county council transport team actually do if they can't organise this properly ?”
by neilant
Monday, July 18 2011, 3:45PM
“Thats only £212,500 a week.. How can they do it so cheaply?..
Excuse my carcasm please..”
by BigBadEdward
Monday, July 18 2011, 3:20PM
“Oh, crumbs. That's it, I'm getting my pilot's licence.”
by mattgaltress
Monday, July 18 2011, 3:07PM
“Will be interested to see what happens to bus services around there then...”