Queens Drive Roundabout

The B680 had a simple turn at the junction location when the Clifton Bridge first opened, here shown in 1960

By 1963, an unclassified road to the north was added, and the junction created as a simple T-junction

With the addition of the Outer Ring Road and the reclassification of the road over the bridge to A614, the original roundabout was open by 1966

The roundabout was quickly upgraded ready for grade separation, here in 1968

The road to the east was upgraded to A6019 in 1971

Queens Drive Roundabout is a junction on the Nottingham Ring Road which links the ring road to one of the major routes into the city centre, Queens Drive, which is currently the A453.

It is on the south west side of the Ring Road next to the River Trent with Clifton and Wilford on the other side of the river.

Layout

The junction is grade separated on three levels:

• First of all, there is a roundabout at ground level
• Above this the A52 traffic carries over the roundabout on a central bridge
• The top level is a "right turn" flyover which carries the traffic heading inbound (northbound) over Clifton Bridge onto the A453 towards the city centre.

The roundabout comprises

• Eastern end is the A453 coming in and out of Nottingham itself
• Exiting the roundabout is a single lane which runs to the left of the flyover which drops to ground level and combines with it. Not long after leaving the roundabout there is a LILO interchange with Lenton Lane, one of the many industrial areas around this junction. Then there is a left turn off for the Riverside Retail Park (Argos, B&Q, etc), before the traffic from the flyover merges in to make the right hand lane of two lanes which will head inbound to the city centre, this road is currently on a 40mph speed limit.
• Entering the roundabout from the same point is 3 lanes of traffic from Nottingham, the left most lane is able to carry straight onto the A52 slip road without needing to follow the roundabout restrictions, and heads on to Clifton Bridge.
• Southern end is the A52 Clifton Bridge. One lane from the roundabout joins the lane from the outbound A453, and heads up the slip road to the A52. At the other end, the four lanes travelling over the river from the A453 split as follows: Left lane A453 flyover, 2nd lane from the roundabout, 3rd lane rejoins the 4th lane (which is on the eastern bridge) to form the two lanes over the island and the northbound A52.
• Western end is access to yet more industry - Thane Road heads off along the bank of the river towards the Boots site, which was then extended round the outside of Boots to provide a link to Beeston for lighter vehicles. There is also a further industrial park which runs along the A52 north of this, from which access is obtained off this exit.
• Northern end is the A52 ring road northbound, which is slip roads heading to and from the northbound A52.

History

The ring road initially opened here as the A614, which headed round the current A6514 and A52 routes as far as the A606. The latter was re-routed round here when the section around Gamston linking the Wheatcroft Island to the Gamston Island was completed.

The A453 initially headed inbound on the current A6005, this route was then the A6019, which still exists further into the city.

Routes

Route	To	Notes
A52	The North (M1), Derby, Mansfield (A60), Beeston (A6005), Multiplex Cinema, Dunkirk Ind. area, Household waste and Recycling centre
A52	East Midlands Airport (A453), The South (M1), Grantham, B'ham (A453), Wilford 1 1/2, Clifton 2, Gotham 5 (A453)
A453	City Centre, Park and Ride, Lenton Industrial Estate (East), Carlton Television Studios, Riverside Retail Park, Queens Drive Industrial Estate
	Boots, Ind.Est. (west)
B680	City Centre
A614	Outer Ring Road
A6019	City Centre