Chamber gives red light to Nuns’ Corner roundabout proposals

THE Chamber’s North East Lincolnshire Area Council members have voiced strong concerns at proposals to replace a key Grimsby roundabout with traffic lights at its recent meeting.

Members strongly opposed plans being mooted by North East Lincolnshire Council to change the roundabout system at Nuns’ Corner that currently works well.

As previously reported in the local media, NELC in partnership with Engie, has secured £4.2-million of local growth funding to invest in key junctions to reduce congestion and create capacity for long-term growth and improve safety. There are fears that some of this money will be wasted by putting in traffic lights at the Nuns’ Corner roundabout.

A representative from North East Lincolnshire Council, explained that the proposals were being looked at as part of the Council’s 15-year transport strategy and nothing had yet been decided as the proposals still had to go through a consultation process. She admitted that traffic flows at Nuns’ Corner were not an issue at the moment, but with lots of new housing development being planned, some planning officials felt it might be in 15 years’ time, which is what these proposals were looking at.

Commenting on the strong objections raised by business leaders, the Chamber’s External Affairs Manager, David Hooper, said: “When a friend first told me this was a serious proposal, I thought it was an April Fool – I was convinced he was having me on.

“I use the Nuns’ Corner roundabout at least twice a day and have rarely seen any issues or accidents – other than those caused by the bus lanes. The biggest hold-up for traffic on Scartho Road is the section of bus lane from Sutcliffe Avenue to Nuns’ Corner, which constricts the busy morning traffic into one lane on the approach to the roundabout.

“Then there’s the problematic bus lane which starts immediately after the roundabout as you head towards the town centre which forces cars into the adjacent lane at peak times – I’ve seen plenty of near misses there! If the Council wants to improve traffic flows, it should remove these token bus lanes and it will have two easy wins.

“The Chamber of Commerce’s Area Council agreed to watch these proposals closely and make more formal representations to the Council if the idea was felt likely to be taken seriously by councillors”.