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Planned improvements to a Bilsthorpe junction dropped from a wider scheme due to rising costs will go ahead – but there is no timeline for when.

Mickledale Lane will not be taken forward as part of improvements to the A614 and A6097 after its costs rose by £6 million.

However, it will be delivered in the future as part of a separate piece of work, with Nottinghamshire Council pledging £5m to the works.

Once complete, it could involve a new roundabout or traffic lights being installed alongside a new link road.

A Nottinghamshire Council visualisation of how the Mickledale Lane/A614 junction improvements could have looked. (Photo by: Nottinghamshire Council)

But since being removed from the broader scheme in June, designing is under way to work out how the A614 intersection could look and cost.

It was one of six initially put forward as part of a multi-million-pound, Government-backed improvement scheme to boosting the local economy and improve connectivity, including enlarging the Ollerton Roundabout, safety work at the White Post Roundabout and “geometric improvements” at the A6097/A614 Warren Hill intersection.

The wider project was initially expected to cost £28.6m but rose to £45.3m due to inflation and increased professional fees.

This included Mickledale Lane rising from £5.8m to £11.8m, as well as Ollerton increasing from £10.7m to £17.2m.

The Conservative-controlled council cabinet voted in June to remove Mickledale Lane from the project and run it separately.

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This allowed the wider scheme to reduce to £34.4m – including £24.3m from the Department for Transport.

Now a senior cabinet member has reaffirmed the authority’s commitment to the junction, but said there is no timetable for its progress.

Coun Keith Girling, cabinet member for economic development and asset management, described Mickledale Lane as “very complex” and said: “It’s on the top of a hill with lots of services under it. It’s not a simple task and I don’t know whether it will be a roundabout or traffic lights.

“We need to establish that first, then we can say how much it’ll cost and when we’ll be able to get it done.”

“We want to get it finished and done and we’ve committed to do it. It’s only been pulled from the main scheme and it’s always been the intention to finish it off. It’s hard to put a timescale on it but we’re not going to drag our feet.”

No firm timetable as council reaffirms commitment to cost-hit Bilsthorpe junction