A new study has backed plans to build a new road bridge over the River Trent at Colwick.
Colwick has often been touted as the best location for a new road traffic bridge over the river, aiming to reduce congestion and bring economic benefits by connecting the A612 to either the A46 or A52.
Nottingham is currently served by Lady Bay Bridge, Clifton Bridge, and Trent Bridge, with the last crossing having been built decades ago.
Between Lady Bay Bridge, the most easterly of the crossings, and the next road route at Gunthorpe, there is a distance of just over nine miles.
In March, before Reform took control of Nottinghamshire County Council from the Conservatives, money was allocated for a study into a fourth bridge over the river at Colwick.
The feasibility study was funded by a £1 million package from East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA).
County councillor Mike Adams, who represents Carlton East for the Conservatives, has been campaigning for a new bridge at Colwick for years.
He told the Local Democracy Reporting Service that the feasibility study has graded the project as “good” against county council criteria.
Cllr Adams added: “But it requires significant funds to build it, which would be on EMCCA, so work continues at the county council to get the project shovel-ready.”
‘Wholly impractical’
Several feasibility studies have been conducted in the past.
In 2020, a leaked study revealed that a fourth bridge over the Trent would alleviate congestion, reduce journey times, and be an economic boost for the area.
The report was commissioned by Nottinghamshire County Council in 2016, but only came to light that year.
It examined the feasibility of a bridge from near the back of Colwick Industrial Estate to land to the west of Radcliffe-on-Trent.
It would have been built next to an existing train bridge.
However, then-Conservative leader of the county council, Kay Cutts, suggested that the bridge should be built at Gunthorpe – an 11-mile drive downstream.
She said the Colwick bridge would be “wholly impractical”, and that the study did not account for the land being very low-lying – meaning a very long structure would be required and would come at considerable cost.
Back in 2021 it was predicted a major Government investment to the tune of around £50 million would be needed to make the vision a reality.
However, the finances required would likely be considerably more today, with the costs of the new pedestrian and cycle bridge at Trent Basin now totalling £18 million – around double the figure initially quoted.
A crossing in the north?
More recently, in September of last year, a location further north in the county, in Bassetlaw, was suggested by a Reform councillor.
Nottinghamshire county councillor Mike Robertson, who represents the Misterton division, said there is only one bridge over the Trent within an 18-mile radius in that part of the county.
The existing single-carriageway Flood Road bridge connects Beckingham in Nottinghamshire to Gainsborough in Lincolnshire.
He stated that the road was closed in 2024 when the river breached its banks, causing significant traffic problems, and noted that a fourth crossing in the area could better serve the planned STEP nuclear fusion power plant in West Burton.
A matter for parliament
A debate over a new road crossing across the river was held back in 2022 in parliament, after the bottleneck became apparent following the closure of Clifton Bridge in 2020.
Some lanes on the bridge were closed for more than 20 months while repair work took place, and initial closures made Nottingham one of the world’s most congested cities at the time.
Later in July 2022, a lorry crashed through the side of Lady Bay Bridge.
The incident caused severe traffic problems across the city and West Bridgford, which continued until the works to repair it were completed a month later.
The feasibility study commissioned by the Conservatives is the latest step in the long-running effort to build a new road bridge.
