B6004

The B6004 is a long suburban route, taking in the western and northern parts of Nottingham. It can be a useful road to take to avoid the pitfalls of the city centre and the A6514 Ring Road at peak times.

Our road starts just to the north of Stapleford town centre, at a T-junction with the B6003. The road heads east, then northeast, in a bid to reach the A6002 as quickly as possible. We meet up with the A6007 and A6002 at a pair of mini-roundabouts. From here, we must join the A6002 and multiplex with it for some distance, as it skirts the western edge of Nottingham. Originally the A6002 did not exist here and so the B6004 just continued ahead.

After about 2.5 miles (having crossed the A609 and entered Nottingham), we reach a crossroads, with Strelley village on our left, but we turn right at the lights and into the Bilborough Estate, now back under the B6004 number again. It is a wide road here, but there are lots of traffic lights and side turnings that slow progress down. Soon we reach a shopping area and a large, long roundabout with the B690 and the Beechdale Road. This was once a pair of small roundabouts, but has recently been converted into a "long-about" due to safety concerns.

We take a left turn here, in a northeasterly direction, and into the Broxtowe estate. Broxtowe is the name of the local authority covering the west side of the city, and the name was given to the vast council estate that was built mostly after the war (but some areas were started in the 1930s). A lot of the area's roads were built as geometric designs, with a lot of the roads as concentric circles or ovals. Our road passes reasonably straight in between these estates, and soon we reach another roundabout with five exits. The main road ahead is the B6008 on its way to the A610 at Cinderhill. We turn right here, still on Broxtowe Lane. Now we are travelling east and soon reach the A610 Nuthall Road. The junction is a large signalised junction, and marks the end of our trip through the Broxtowe Estate.

We go straight on, past the grounds of Nottingham College, and shortly reach a mini-roundabout. Stockhill Lane carries on here as an unclassified road and the B6004 turns left, sweeping around the older part of Basford before reaching a level crossing with the Robin Hood line and the Nottingham NET (tram). David Lane station is on our left, as we wait (invariably) for the crossing, or the traffic lights with the B682 Vernon Road, which we cross immediately after. We cannot turn at this crossroads (and in the other direction we can only turn left); in order to access the B682, we must turn left at the next junction and follow a mini-gyratory of sorts.

Oxclose Way,Arnold

From here on, our speed is governed by a forest of SPECS average speed cameras on our way around the north of Nottingham. Arnold Road is quite narrow, and justifies the 30mph speed limit, but soon widens out after the crossroads with the A611 Hucknall Road. This part is wide and straight, and used to be a regular haunt of the mobile speed cameras before the SPECS were installed. The next set of lights is at a crossroads with Edwards Lane. To our left, it is notable that there is a wide strip of undeveloped land: this was originally planned as the route of the A60 bypass of Arnold and Redhill but the project was canned in the early 1970s. We carry straight on, and a surprise awaits. After toiling away on a 30mph S2 road, we are now on an urban dual carriageway with a 30mph limit. This was lowered from 40mph due to there being lots of housing and a primary school lining service roads to the side of the carriageway. This leads many people to assume that the road is, incorrectly, still a 40mph road. After a mile, the road narrows back to a single carriageway at a set of lights for the Bestwood Estate. Shortly afterwards, the road turns a corner and ends at a large junction with the A60. A potential extension of this route would be to use Cross Street to reach Arnold and the B684 beyond, but this has never been planned.