By Anna Whittaker, Local Democracy Reporter
There are increasing calls for action at a Nottinghamshire stretch of the A52 where pedestrians risk ‘playing dodgems’ with traffic.
Councillors and people living in nearby Gamston say crossing the A52 between the Wheatcroft and Nottingham Knight roundabouts is too dangerous.
A petition to improve an existing underpass beneath the road, south of Sharphill Wood, has also been signed by 1,800 people.
Highways England has responded to the suggested improvements by saying they are “applying to their Designated Funds programme…in 2021-22″ and that they are “looking at all options for improving walking, cycling and horse-riding accessibility across the A52 between Nottingham Knight and Wheatcroft Roundabouts”.
Councillor Neil Clarke, who holds the Transport and Environment portfolio at Nottinghamshire County Council, said a fatal injury on the crossing can “always be a potential” until the crossing is improved.
He said: “The sooner we can try to eliminate the danger the better.
“If people can feel safe crossing underneath the road rather than crossing and playing dodgems with traffic, that’s always better for me.
“I have not crossed this road on foot, thankfully, and trying to cross it on a horse would fill me with absolute dread.
“With there being an underpass in place it means there is not going to be a horrendously expensive exercise.
“I’ve had comments from locals who always complain about the high speed but we have to bear in mind that it is a dual carriageway so it will always have dangerous traffic.
“That is why it is so important to separate people from the traffic.”
Hugh McClintock of Pedals, a local campaign group which pushes for a more cycle friendly city, said he would like to see the “dark and dingy” underpass to be upgraded with fresh paint and better lighting because some pedestrians are put off using it and instead try to cross the road on foot.
He said: “We have been campaigning for this for 20 years.
“People continue to feel intimidated when they want to cross roads like this. We’ve seen since lockdown the great benefit of exercise and people are very keen to hang on to that.
“You have to think not just about the people who have died trying to cross the road but the other people who would like to cross it but have given up because they are too intimidated.
“People are angry, a lot of people have been asking in the last year or so that they want to go walking but find they can’t cross and the only place they can cross is in an intimidating state.
“They want to know why they are hemmed in by these nasty and dangerous roads.”
Rushcliffe Conservative MP Ruth Edwards, who is backing the petition, said: “I don’t think any sensible person would want to use the existing crossing points. The speed of the traffic and the huge volume travelling back and forth mean that for walkers, cyclists and particularly for horse riders, the current setup is incredibly dangerous.
“I think the proposals to use the underpass as an alternative seem very sensible and I have raised this directly with Highways England.
“The campaign to improve safety when crossing this road has my full support and I would like to thank everyone involved for their hard work.”
