Reignited calls for funding to fix ‘nightmare’ Sainsbury’s A60 junction in Mansfield

The junction, on the A60 Nottingham Road at Mansfield Leisure Park, has long caused issues for motorists with two supermarkets, a cinema, two restaurants, a bingo hall and a McDonald’s all served by one entry and exit point.

Drivers can often queue for long periods waiting to get in and out of the retail park, causing long queues along the A60 in both directions.

Coun Ben Bradley, Mansfield MP and now Nottinghamshire Council leader, made fixing the junction one of his key pledges when first elected to Parliament in 2017.

He worked with the local authority to draw up a plan to fix the junction, with plans to submit it to the Government’s Pinch Points Fund in 2020.

However, the Pinch Point Fund was scrapped due to the Covid-19 pandemic and no new funding has been allocated for the project.

Speaking during a Westminster Hall debate on transport in Nottinghamshire, he said: “On the Sainsbury’s junction, as it’s known locally, I had secured the funding to fix it and we worked hard to come up with a workable plan to improve the situation.

“People can queue for 50 minutes to an hour at Christmas just to get out of it and we came up with a plan and submitted it to the Pinch Points Fund.

“We were told we would get the money – the day before the pandemic hit when the money was understandably re-prioritised to other things.

“The plan is there and if we could get the money to do it, that would be important to my constituents.”

Under the improvements, the northbound slip road into the leisure park would be extended to prevent traffic pulling into Sainsbury’s from blocking cars heading into the town centre.

The plans also include purchasing unused petrol station land from Sainsbury’s, in order to extend the leisure park exit to three lanes.

Katherine Fletcher, roads minister, replied she was ‘happy’ to write to Coun Bradley with a ‘bit more detail’ about Government policies on specific schemes.

She told the debate ‘improving roads, connectivity, enhancing safety and reducing congestion; are important priorities for the Department for Transport.