Transforming Cities Fund
In June 2020, Nottingham and Derby City Councils received over £160m from the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) to build a package of transport schemes aimed at strengthening connections between major employment sites, upgrading public transport, and improving facilities for people on foot or bike – an increasingly important investment following the declaration of a climate crisis in 2021.
All proposals meet two key TCF objectives:
- Supporting commuting, employment, development and economic growth
- Reducing carbon
Transforming Cities Fund proposals
Working collaboratively with Nottingham City Council, Nottinghamshire County Council is supporting the delivery of several schemes that were submitted in the TCF bid and are located on the county council’s local road network.
Since the original TCF bid was submitted in 2019 there has been a significant increase in the estimated project costs due to wider economic pressures. The county council carried out a detailed review of its TCF proposals to ensure that these remain affordable and continue to offer value for money.
Several schemes were removed from the programme as they were no longer affordable within the available budget. The council will continue to seek alternative ways of funding these schemes in future.
Find out more about the review of the TCF proposals
A revised package of TCF proposals has now been agreed to make the most of the available funding opportunity:
Completed schemes to date
A612 Colwick Loop Road
Widening works were undertaken on the existing shared-use footway between Mile End Road and Private Road Number 1 to improve the current facilities along the A612.
The scheme enhances the existing pedestrian and cycle route along the A612 and forms the first phase of long-term aspirations to improve pedestrian and cycle facilities between Nottingham and the east of the city.
Robin Hood Network
A programme of upgrades to real-time bus information displays and other bus stop infrastructure at bus stops within the county network. This included the continuation of the Robin Hood network branding at relevant stops.
Find out more about Nottinghamshire County Council’s real time bus information
Traffic light priority
Traffic signals at 64 junctions were upgraded with specialist software to detect late-running buses. Once a late-running bus has been detected, the software enables the green phase of the traffic signals to be extended, allowing the bus to clear the junction. The software installation will improve bus journey time reliability across the network.
Bridge connections in Lady Bay and West Bridgford
The new pedestrian and cycle bridge over the River Trent will improve links between West Bridgford and Nottingham City Centre and out towards Holme Pierrepont.
To manage the increased numbers of pedestrians and cyclists using these routes, improvements have been made to the Riverside Path in Lady Bay and the connecting path to Holme Road. The existing paths have been widened and resurfaced, new low-level lighting has been installed which is designed to be bat friendly, and improvements have also been made to the crossing point near Melbourne Road to increase visibility.
Work to widen the existing pedestrian refuges on Trent Boulevard and Holme Road in Lady Bay has also now been completed. This now provides more space for users, especially at peak times such as during international cricket fixtures and Nottingham Forest FC match days. The final landscaping of this scheme will take place later this year.
Schemes under construction/in development phase
Bridge connections - crossing improvements on Radcliffe Road, West Bridgford
A revised scheme to improve the existing crossing on Radcliffe Road near Cyril Road has now been approved. The original design for this scheme has been revised in response to community concerns about the potential loss of trees.
A new shared-use pedestrian and cycle crossing will be constructed to provide a better link with the existing approaches on either side of Radcliffe Road. This will reduce the crossing distance and provide more space on either side of crossing as well as improving visibility for users. Improved pedestrian detection will also provide more time for users to cross, should they need it.
As part of the scheme the existing footway linking to Cyril Road will be widened to create a shared-use footway and the footway linking to Rutland Road will be resurfaced. Two mature trees that would have been removed as part of the original design will now be retained. One semi-mature tree in poor condition will be removed and replaced with two new semi-mature specimens to offset this loss.
This scheme will also see the construction of a new raised plateau at the junction of Rutland Road/Gertrude Road.
Read the cabinet member report about these proposals
Improvements to the existing crossing on Radcliffe Road near Mabel Grove/Rutland Road are also being considered. This would see the existing crossing refurbished and the approaches to the crossing widened and resurfaced where space allows. Following consultation at the end of last year various design options are now being considered.
