Friday 11 January, 2013
A Government road scheme to unlock growth and boost the economy started construction in earnest today on the A453 in the East Midlands.
This £150 million investment will widen a seven mile stretch of the A453 between M1 Junction 24 and the A52 Nottingham Ring Road – a major link serving Nottingham, the M1 and East Midlands Airport.
Once completed in summer 2015, this Highways Agency project will reduce congestion and make the route safer.
The A453 widening is one of six schemes to boost growth announced in the Chancellor’s 2011 Autumn Statement and the first to start work. These six growth schemes are part of a £3.3 billion investment in major road improvements during this spending review period.
Roads Minister Stephen Hammond said:
“Upgrading and widening the A453 demonstrates this Government’s commitment to improving our road network and helping to stimulate growth.
“Extra capacity on the road will deliver significant economic benefits for both local businesses and motorists while helping to improve road safety.”
Commercial Secretary to the Treasury, Lord Deighton said:
“The Government is committed to getting Britain the first-class infrastructure we need to compete on a global scale, and the A453 is another example of how we’re delivering projects that will boost growth across the country. We’re getting vital projects moving and we need to continue this momentum.
“We will be investing more than two billion pounds into roads projects over the next two years, with the Highways Agency developing and starting work on 19 major projects. Once completed, these projects will add around 250 miles of additional lanes for drivers, easing congestion, creating jobs and supporting homeowners and businesses alike.”
The Highways Agency will upgrade the 5.5 mile rural section of the A453 from M1 Junction 24 to the new Clifton Mill Hill Roundabout to a dual carriageway, with junctions at different heights (such as flyovers) so that they will not disrupt the traffic flow on the A453.
The scheme also includes widening the 1.5 mile urban section through Clifton from a two-lane single carriageway to a four-lane single carriageway (two lanes in each direction) with signalisation of the existing Crusader Roundabout and new signalised roundabout junctions at Green Lane and Farnborough Road.
Councillor Kay Cutts, Leader of Nottinghamshire County Council, which has contributed £20m towards the scheme, added:
“I am delighted that construction work is at long last beginning on improving the A453.
“The improvements to this vital route will bring huge benefits to the Nottinghamshire economy and that of the East Midlands as a whole.
"Nottinghamshire County Council and the local business community campaigned long and hard for its improvement, with the County Council itself putting £20m into the scheme.
“News that work is now starting is fantastic news for everyone in Nottinghamshire.”
The Highways Agency will be starting work on another major road improvement during January, with main construction getting underway to dual the A11 in Norfolk between Fiveways and Thetford. This will be the last remaining single-carriageway section of the A11 to be widened (5.5 miles). The Agency is also constructing a new (3.6 mile) bypass of the village of Elveden as part of the scheme.
The Agency also started advance works this week on a scheme to provide technology-driven improvements to upgrade junctions 23 to 27 of the M25, one of Europe's busiest motorways. Advance work is already underway on a similar scheme to improve the section of the M25 between Junctions 5 and 7. Main construction is due to start on both schemes in spring this year, and once completed they will increase capacity and make journeys more reliable on these sections of motorway.
Since 2010 the Government has invested around a billion pounds on Highways Agency major project schemes on the strategic road network: that includes starting work - on time - on four major road projects and completing work on seven of eight schemes already under construction, which have provided more than 160 miles of extra lanes, giving more road space for road users.
To find out more about the A453 widening scheme, people can visit public information exhibitions starting today. The exhibitions will be held at Clifton Leisure Centre, Southchurch Drive, Clifton, NG11 8AB, on Friday 11 January from 2pm to 8pm and on Saturday 12 January from 10am to 4pm. The exhibition will then move to Kegworth Whitehouse Hotel, Packington Hill, Kegworth, DE74 2DF, on Sunday January 13 from 10am to 4.30pm.
People can register for updates on the scheme’s webpage http://www.highways.gov.uk/roads/road-projects/A453-Widening-M1-Junction-24-to-A52-Nottingham or call the Highways Agency Information Line on 0300 123 5000.
Notes to Editors:
Issued by Midlands RNN on behalf of the Highways Agency. Media inquiries to Dee Smith on 0115 959 7991 or dee.smith@co.gsi.gov.uk. Media enquiries out of hours should be made to the Highways Agency National Press Office (24hrs) on 0844 693 1448.
The Highways Agency is an executive agency of the Department for Transport. We manage, maintain and improve England’s motorways and other strategic roads on behalf of the Secretary of State.
The A453 widening will be carried out by Laing O’Rourke on behalf of the Highways Agency. The scheme designers are White Young Green. The scheme budget is £149.7million. Nottinghamshire County Council has contributed £20 million towards the cost.
Maintenance and improvement projects: We plan maintenance and improvement projects carefully to allow road works to be completed safely, in a cost effective way while keeping disruption to road users to a minimum. We do as much work as possible overnight and when roads are less busy in order to keep more lanes open for road users at peak travel times. Drivers are advised to check their route for road works and allow extra time for their journeys where needed. We have a variety of journey planning tools that road users can use to check travel conditions on the roads we manage, and we will do all we can to keep road users informed.
Real-time traffic information for England’s motorways and other strategic roads is available:
- From the web at www.highways.gov.uk/traffic.
- By phone from the Highways Agency Information Line on 0300 123 5000 at any time. (Calls to 0300 numbers will cost no more than 5p per minute from a standard BT residential landline. Call charges from other landlines and mobile networks may vary, but will be no more than a standard geographic call and will be included in all inclusive minutes and discount schemes). Make sure it’s safe and legal before you call. Before using any mobile, find a safe place to park. Never stop on the hard shoulder of a motorway except in an emergency.
- On an iPhone app which will automatically select the region you are in. Free to download from the iTunes store or search for Highways Agency on your device.
- From Twitter – there are eight feeds with live traffic information provided by region. For information on roads in the East Midlands follow us at @HAtraffic_emids or for the full index visit www.highways.gov.uk/twitter.
Receive our national and regional press releases by RSS and get the latest headlines straight to your desktop the moment we publish them to our website. Choose to receive a national press feed or one of our regionalised feeds - go to www.highways.gov.uk/rssnews for more information.
Issued by Midlands RNN on behalf of the Highways Agency. Media inquiries to Dee Smith on 0115 959 7991 or dee.smith@co.gsi.gov.uk. Media enquiries out of hours should be made to the Highways Agency National Press Office (24hrs) on 0844 693 1448.
Contacts:
RNN Midlands
Phone: 0115 852 4262
nottingham@co.gsi.gov.uk
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http://www.pressat.co.uk/
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