The large project involves key upgrades to five main junctions and roundabouts
Nottinghamshire County Council leader, Mick Barton, at the Kirk Hill junction(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
A major project to improve Nottinghamshire’s “spine” road network has taken a step forward at a busy junction.
The A614/A6097 improvement scheme has been in the pipeline since 2019 and was given government approval in September 2025 – but councillors have been calling for changes along the stretch for more than 20 years.
It involves key upgrades to five main junctions and roundabouts from East Bridgford all the way up to Ollerton, including Ollerton Roundabout, White Post Roundabout, Warren Hill junction, Lowdham Roundabout and Kirk Hill junction.
Funding for the scheme was placed under review by the Labour Government after the 2024 General Election. It had previously been given planning consent in September 2022, with work due to start in 2023.
The project now stands at around £49 million, including a £12.6 million contribution from the East Midlands Combined County Authority (EMCCA), and it appears to be progressing, with targeted archaeology works for the Kirk Hill junction improvements having now started.
This step is needed before main construction works start, which are estimated to begin in August and include widening it to add an extra lane in each direction on the A6097 to increase vehicle capacity and reduce journey times.
The right-turn lanes into Kirk Hill and East Bridgford Road will also be widened, along with new road markings and traffic signal system, upgraded street lighting, a renewed footpath along Kirk Hill and upgrades to the bridleway crossing.
The Kirk Hill junction near East Bridgford (Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
On the Kirk Hill junction update, Nottinghamshire County Council leader, Mick Barton (Ref) told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “[Kirk Hill] is packed with traffic [at peak times], all coming off the main road. Across Nottinghamshire this is one of the main entrances into Nottinghamshire.
“Gunthorpe roundabout, that’s exactly the same in the morning, it’s packed with traffic, then we move down the five pinch points, that we’re doing in this scheme is for that reason, to relieve the pinch points and get traffic flowing.
“It’s better for business, then better for the economy and better for residents.”
The leader said there would be “minor disruption” for several months while works on the project go on, with more significant temporary disruption “for a few weeks at a time” when junctions have to close for resurfacing and electrical work. He added residents will get “plenty of notice”.
EMCCA Mayor, Claire Ward, said: “I’m absolutely delighted because for many, many years, residents in Nottinghamshire, businesses, they’ve all told me what an absolute problem these roads are.
“And I feel it too. I live in North Nottinghamshire and this is the spine of the county that we all have to travel up and down.”
East Midlands Combined County Authority Mayor, Claire Ward(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
The mayor called the wider project a “priority” to unlock housebuilding and jobs in the county, along with reducing the amount of bottlenecks on its roads.
She said: “We know people lose time sitting in congestion and that time is money for businesses, but also time you’re losing when you want to be with your family, doing some other more fun things than sitting in traffic.
“We know in Thoresby, where they’ve been building new homes, they’ve got those planning permissions, they can’t do the next section of those homes because the roads don’t have the capacity to deal with them. That’s the same with opportunities for business growth in this area.
“This isn’t just a bit of road, expansion, sorting out some of those approaches to roundabouts, this is going to be transformational.”
Ms Ward said she was personally “fed up” of sitting in traffic at Ollerton Roundabout.
Workers on site at the Kirk Hill junction(Image: Local Democracy Reporting Service)
With disruption inevitable for road users during the project, Cllr Barton said: “Please bare with us for any delays that you get. Obviously when we’re improving, we’ll always get delays so please be patient… but there’s a long game, this will make massive improvements to all the traffic and all the residents in this area and across Nottinghamshire.”
According to the council, the main works to the junctions is estimated to start in August at Kirk Hill, in September at Lowdham Roundabout and in November at Ollerton Roundabout.
For Warren Hill and White Post Roundabout, some matters are still subject to agreement but the aim is for works to start on both before March 2027.
The council is expecting to provide further updates on these two locations soon.
To fund the large scheme, £24.3 million has come from a capped contribution from the Department for Transport, £8.3 million has been provided by the County Council, £1.7 million has come from developer contributions and £12.6 million from EMCCA and the government to complete the financial package.
Residents and motorists can sign up to Nottinghamshire County Council ’s dedicated WhatsApp channel for updates on the A614/A6097 scheme. This can be found at: https://whatsapp.com/channel/0029VbDZNEcDeON6Dei1ci2T
Information on the different phases of the construction and traffic management within the project can be found on the authority’s website: https://www.nottinghamshire.gov.uk/transport/roads/a614/a614-junction-improvements/kirk-hill