Solutions to Newark traffic gridlock to be discussed at second traffic summit

A second traffic summit is to be held to discuss how to improve Newark’s chronic congestion problems.

The meeting on February 12, organised by Newark MP Robert Jenrick, will involve representatives from Nottinghamshire and Lincolnshire county councils, Newark Business Club, Highways England and other interested parties. The first summit was held in July last year.

Motorists faced lengthy delays on Friday following a fatal collision on the A46, just after noon, involving a Nissan Almera car and a Scania lorry between the Farndon and cattle market roundabouts. The road was closed for almost nine hours.

A lorry fire on the A1 northbound, near Coddington, which happened at about 1.35pm, caused further problems.

Lockdown

Mr Jenrick, who was caught up in traffic and had to delay a constituency surgery, expressed his sympathy to the family of the man who died.

He said the incidents had left Newark in “lockdown.”

“Improvements are on the way,” said Mr Jenrick. “At my next traffic summit Highways England will present their initial findings and hopefully their view on the likely scope of the project.

“For Highways England and county council highways, the emphasis is on short-term measures.

“We have a commitment to a long-term project, which is good ­— £150m-£200m on completing the dualling of the A46 (Newark bypass) and improvements to the Winthorpe, Brownhills and cattle market roundabouts.

“It is up to me to continue to lobby to ensure that happens.”

Mr Jenrick said work was not likely to start on that scheme until 2020.

“It is incredibly important that Highways England and the county council work to improve our current gridlock in the meantime,” he said.

“We have proposals on the table for gravel extraction at Coddington and Flash Farm, Averham, and a planning application for Sainsbury's (supermarket on the former county council highways depot on Kelham Road near the cattlemarket roundabout).

“It is most important that we prevail on our local councillors to lobby to defeat these proposals.”

There is likely to be an update at the summit on the southern relief road ­— currently under construction ­— that will link the A46 at Farndon with the A1 at Fernwood and the Growth Point on land south of Newark, which will bring thousands of new homes and infrastructure.

Possible temporary speed limits

Ahead of the summit, short-term measures to improve severe traffic problems in and around the town will be discussed by the county council and Highways England on Friday.

The meeting, involving Mr Neil Hodgson, the council’s service director for highways, will consider measures to improve the traffic flow on roundabouts and possible temporary speed limits.

Mr Kamaljit Khokhar, from Highways England’s asset development team, said: “We fully recognise the need for significant improvements to address the long-term congestion issues in Newark. This will take some years to develop and deliver.

“We are exploring smaller, short-term schemes that we can implement in the interim and are developing these options, in consultation with both Nottinghamshire County Council highways department and Nottinghamshire Police.”

'Passengers are used to major traffic disruption'

Mr Simon Read, transport manager at Marshalls Coaches, of Sutton-on-Trent, said Friday’s traffic problems caused some services to be cancelled and drivers to finish their shifts late.

“We ended up cancelling some rounds because we couldn’t get where we needed to be,” he said.

“It’s not easy for us and it has affected our passengers as well.

“Thankfully, they are so used to major traffic disruption that they are very understanding towards us.”

One of Mr Read’s colleagues, who was due to finish at 5pm, stayed on until 7pm to co-ordinate services and to ensure drivers received proper rest periods. Some drivers returned 90 minutes late.