The tram officially “opened” on 25 August – getting on for a year behind schedule. Today – 3 September – I was held up in several locations by road closures and/or restrictions which are absolutely and completely part of the tram works. Beeston centre in particular is an un-navigable pigsty of a building site, just as it has been for the entire duration of the tram fiasco.
Mind you, when I say “un-navigable”, I’m only talking about for every road user EXCEPT for those on the tram. Nottingham City/County Council has made damned sure that the illusion of the tram being completed is maintained, irrespective of the fact that they are still causing chaos on the roads.
But my main point is the news item I saw on the BBC local website yesterday. They (the Council) have spent a further £70,000 on a “feasibility study” and they’re already talking about a new £170m extension out past Kimberley and even possibly into Derbyshire, It would involve a tunnel under the M1.
Mark my words: they have already decided to do it.
What makes me so sure? Well, until it was built I had no idea (and no interest) in precisely where the lines would be laid in Clifton. I was taken aback when they removed the original three roundabouts along Southchurch Drive, and I didn’t make the connection until I saw the lines being laid. The roundabouts were removed for the tram, and only for the tram. As is typical with Nottingham City Council, it was a case of screw the motorist – and you now have a situation where “straight ahead” from the south end of Farnborough Road means veering on to Southchurch Drive, whereas continuing along Farnborough Road is now a light-controlled right turn. The lights at all three ex-roundabout locations are heavily biased against road vehicles and they stay on red for ridiculously long periods, even when there is absolutely no other traffic around. The signage in some places is also highly suspect.
But back to the Kimberley extension. Another recent vast and idiotic scheme saw the roundabout where Aspley Lane crosses the ring road completely removed even though it has resulted in traffic jams that were not there before (especially heading south). See where this is going? And if you open up Google Maps, identify Kimberley (specifically the Giltbrook Retail Park where IKEA is located), the Hyson Green tram station, Aspley Lane, and then add somewhere run down that the clowns in the Council might want to “regenerate”… say, Strelley… it doesn’t take a genius to see where the likely route of Line 4 is going to be.
As I say, Line 4 is already decided. It’s just a question of when. Oh, and will they have finished this one before they start on the next? It’s even odds at the moment.