Major roadworks to Nottingham’s Crown Island roundabout which brought traffic to a near standstill have finally come to an end.
Widening and layout work is complete on the major ring road junction after more than a year of major delays.
The upgrades were part of the City Council’s overall £16.2m ring road improvement project.
Councillor Nick McDonald, portfolio holder for transport, said: “If you’re trying to make a city successful, and allow traffic to get in and out of the city as the number of cars increases and the population increases, then you have to invest in better infrastructure.
“The Crown Island roundabout was getting to a point where in the long-term it was going to be a major problem.
“It’s so much easier now to get around it – it’s a piece of work that puts us in a better position in the long-term.”
Picture: The Crown pub has been badly affected by the work
But owners of the Crown pub on the roundabout say disruption from the roadworks outside the venue’s doors have nearly put it out of business.
Last month staff at the Crown videoed how empty the pub was on a Saturday night and posted the footage on Facebook – saying the noise and upheaval of the work had driven customers away.
Landlord Andrew Stirland said: “It’s been awful for the past year. We’ve just watched the business decline week in, week out.
“The noise in there has been horrendous. People have left because they just couldn’t stand it.
“The last couple of weeks we’ve started to see a slight increase again in revenue through the door, so I think there is light at the end of the tunnel.”
Cllr McDonald added: “We’re grateful to residents and businesses who have been patient while we’ve been doing this work, but you can’t do work like this overnight.
“These are works that we have to do.
“I think when you look at it now I think it’s worth it.”
