A Carlton councillor is ramping up calls for a long‑discussed fourth River Trent road crossing, urging political leaders to “take the politics out of it” and finally get the project moving.
Mike Adams, Carlton East councillor on Nottinghamshire County Council, says he has written to East Midlands Mayor Claire Ward asking her to fund the long‑proposed crossing, which he argues is essential to easing congestion across Gedling borough and beyond.
He has also contacted Nottinghamshire’s MPs, urging residents to remind them to “build the bridge” whenever they have contact with them.
Adams says he has spent more than six years campaigning for the project and claims several milestones have already been secured, including:
- £1 million feasibility funding from Nottinghamshire County Council
- Regional approval for the feasibility study through the East Midlands Combined County Authority
- Backing for a Colwick‑to‑A46/A52 route, after opposing alternative locations
- Long‑term lobbying to keep the scheme on the agenda
- Public pressure on local leaders to prevent delays
He argues the crossing is vital to reducing traffic pressure in the area and says cross‑party cooperation is now needed to get the bridge built.
“There’s more to do,” he said. “Let’s build the bridge for the good of Nottinghamshire.”
Cllr Adams continues to peddle the idea of a Fourth Trent crossing but where is the evidence that one is needed or would help ease congestion. A bridge would cost us (taxpayers) tens of millions of pounds and such a commitment has to be fully justified otherwise it will be seen simply as another politicians vanity project. He claims credit for the ‘milestone’ of getting us to already spend £1 million on ‘feasibility funding’ so why not wait for the outcome of the study.
The only place it would ease congestion is in Burton Joyce, where he happens to live. He got his mates in Via to install average speed cameras and resurface the road, which is more than the rest of the county could hope for. If Burton Joyce wants what is essentially a bypass, they should pay for it.
What is it with Tories and wasting tax payers money? Like Sunak, it’s as if they’re too wealthy to understand the value of hard earned tax money.
A fourth crossing of the River Trent would go some way to relieve the pressure points of Trent Bridge and Lady Bay at peak times. The traffic will only increase in the future with all the extra house building at Bingham, Radcliffe on Trent and Edwalton. The alternative crossings are Gunthorpe and Newark.
Major congestion is caused by the slightest delay at rush hour which now starts at 7.30 in the morning and 4pm in the afternoon. Squeezing more traffic onto single carriageway roads over inadequate bridges isn’t viable in the long run and and trying to make political points isn’t going to change that fact.
Burton Joyce’s geography makes a bypass a ridiculous suggestion and not worthy of comment