One-way option considered

Plans for a one-way system around Bingham are being discussed again — two years after being scrapped.

Bingham’s action group, Community Concern, asked for the issue to be reconsidered by Nottinghamshire County Council.

A spokesman for the group, Mr Dennis Briggs, said the issue had never been off the group’s agenda.

“We think it is a way to alleviate congestion in the town and we will continue to raise the issue,” he said.

Mr Briggs said buses were often unable to turn on Market Street and, although the county council had been using traffic wardens to ticket people parking illegally, it had not made much of an impact.

He said congestion in the town would be made more severe if any of the developments at Newton, the north of Bingham, or Tesco went ahead.

Community Concern believes a one-way system would allow for the free-flow of traffic through the town centre.

At a meeting with Community Concern, Mr Paul Hillier, the county council’s local transport planning officer, said any reduction of traffic on Kirkhill and Fairfield Street caused by the dualling of the A46 would be outweighed by the potential increase in traffic that a one-way system would cause.

“We don’t feel it is in the town’s best interest to do this,” he said.

“It would only cause more problems than it would fix.”

However, Mr Hillier has asked for council designers and engineers to look at the issue to see if it was possible before discussing it with Cabinet.

The issue was raised by Bingham Town Council in 2003 but research found several disadvantages including difficulties with traffic flow at junctions and increasing response time for emergency vehicles.