National Highways has appointed a Griffiths Farrans Joint Venture (GFJV) as the main contractor on a multi-phase upgrade to the A52 in Nottingham, which is now set to miss its completion date by two years.
The overall scheme, announced in 2014 as part of the first (2015-20) Road Investment Strategy, consists of a package of measures to improve several junctions along the length of the A52 in Nottingham, including signalisation and junction reconstruction.
GFJV will design and construct the remaining two junctions at Nottingham Knight (above) and Wheatcroft (below) on a contract worth £52.5m.
National Highways’ Delivery Plan update 2022-2023 gives the open for traffic (OFT) date for the overall scheme as quarter 2 of 2023-24, but work on the final phase will not even have begun by this date.
Work is expected to start in September 2024 and the scheme is due to finish in 2026/27.
The Office of Rail and Road’s annual assessment of National Highways’ performance 2021-22 identified the scheme as at risk of missing its OFT commitment.
National Highways has already carried out improvement works at Nottingham Road and Cropwell Road junctions, which opened to traffic in 2017.
In 2021, GFJV began work on the four remaining smaller junctions - Bingham, Stragglethorpe and Silverdale in a deal worth £13.2m. This phase is now complete.
Work at Gamston started in January last year and is set to finish in Spring 2023.
National Highways senior project manager in the Midlands, Nick Medlicott, said his team was in 'a strong position, with an ongoing collaborative relationship with our main contractor'.
Steve Haviland, partnership leader at Griffiths Farrans Joint Venture, said: ‘High profile projects like this one demonstrate the critical role that civil engineering has to play in delivering a functioning, valuable road infrastructure. By reducing congestion and improving safety with this work, we are building a network which will support transport and logistics, save lives and allow the local economy to grow for years to come.’
National Highways will hold a public consultation to share more detailed proposals and seek local views later this year.
