Key step forward for major Nottinghamshire road upgrades

An artist's impression of the planned improvements at Ollerton roundabout

Nottinghamshire County Council has been given the green light to buy land needed to carry out major improvement work on two busy roads.

The authority has earmarked five junctions along the A614 and A6097 for upgrades to try to cut congestion.

The secretary of state for transport, Mark Harper, has confirmed compulsory purchase orders for 57 plots along the routes.

The council said it now hoped to start construction work in the autumn.

The land is needed for new carriageway and bus routes, as well as for temporary construction sites and access routes, the council said.

The junctions included in the scheme are:

• The A614 Ollerton roundabout

• The White Post roundabout near Mansfield

• The A6097/A614 intersection at Warren Hill

• The A6097 roundabout at Lowdham

• The Kirk Hill junction in East Bridgford

Council leader Ben Bradley said: "We're already negotiating with landowners to try and acquire the necessary land and rights by agreement where possible and I'm pleased to say that negotiations have so far been very positive.

"I'm thankful to those landowners for working with us."

The council said improvements would boost the local economy.

However the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) previously said the cost of the work, funded by the Department for Transport (DFT) and the county council, had risen from £28.6m to £45.3m.

The council said the works were expected to last 24 months and anticipated improvements to Ollerton roundabout would be complete and open to traffic by November 2026.

The authority said planned improvements to the A614 Mickledale Lane junction, near Bilsthorpe, will be carried out separately and funded by the council at a cost of about £5m.