Locals blast City Council for installing ‘most pointless’ speed bump

By Nathan Pynn

Council chiefs have been blasted for spending taxpayers' cash on the “UK’s most pointless speed bump” which only covers HALF a road.

Residents say the hump has made Wigman Road in Nottingham more dangerous as motorists slalom past it.

The traffic calming measure was erected on the road, which has a 30mph limit and several other steeper speed bumps, this summer.

The mile-long stretch was once two lanes but is now single file with parking bays on the left-handside.

Labor-run Nottingham City Council installed the speed hump opposite a bungalow which does not have a parking bay due to a dropped kerb and driveway.

Footage shows several drivers simply zig-zag around the hump which is part of a multi-million initiative to improve road users safety across the city.

Fuming locals say the speed hump is not only “pointless” but is even dangerous.

Betsey Degraft-Johnson, 49, who has lived on the road for 17 years, said drivers were still speeding.

She said: “The speed hump couldn’t be in a worse place.

“It’s only across half the road so people are obviously going to try and swerve to avoid it but that’s dangerous too.

“I’ve noticed that it hasn’t stopped drivers speeding either. They still go flying down the road at night.

“The speed bump is opposite a dropped kerb which can’t be a parking bay so it’s always clear. Cars swing in and out all the time.

“I’ve never seen half a speed bump before. It’s completely pointless.”

Resident Jamie Nicholls, 25, said: “I always assumed the workmen were going to come back to put the other half of the bump on the road.

“It’s actually more dangerous now because cars come speeding down the road and swerve into onto the left hand lane to avoid the bump.

“It’s only a matter of time before someone loses control and crashes into the bungalows opposite the speed bump.

“It’s a crazy place to have it.”

Carer Carlene Westby said: "It's a waste of money, it just blew my mind when it just popped up out of nowhere.

"Why not just put the bump across the whole road? It doesn't make any sense."

Disabled Nigel Fleming, 65, who lives opposite the speed hump, told the BBC: "Most of the cars are trying to avoid it, so it's pointless.

"It's a mystery, I've not seen anything like it anywhere else in Nottingham.

"Half a speed bump is just bizarre."

Cindy Cooke, whose father lives on the road, told the BBC: "I drive around it, I can't see the point in it.

"Some people come down here at 50 or 60mph so it's an accident waiting to happen.

"People have said it's a waste of space, why is it even there? It's quite funny really."

The city council received funding from the government's Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) to erect the speed bump.

The TCF is a £2.45 billion taxpayer-funded initiative to improve transport links in English cities.

A council spokesperson said: "The speed hump was initially installed across half of the road because of the presence of parking bays.

"We’re keeping the situation under review and if it’s clear that bays aren’t being used frequently and drivers are avoiding the speed hump as a result, we’ll investigate the potential to extend it full width of the road."