There are some crossings in Nottingham pedestrians can be baffled by, especially as someone new to the city. These can include going across tram lines, dealing with traffic lights that take a long time to turn green, or some just being exceptionally hectic or wide.
Local residents shared their thoughts on which places they found confusing in the city. If you can think of any confusing or odd crossings, get in touch and let us know.
At the junction near the Theatre Royal in Nottingham city centre, where Upper Parliament Street's motorists cut across the NET tram line just before the stop, people said the crossing could be "confusing". Martin Smith, 50, an engineer who lives on Radford Boulevard, said: “I don’t come to town a lot but I think if you're elderly it could be confusing. I would know where to cross here but if your in a rush or older it could be confusing.
Read more: 10 of the trickiest junctions across Nottinghamshire that drivers hate
"They could do with repainting the white marks on the road. Generally it’s fine but you’ve got to be vigilant.”
Sophie Parkin, 18, a college student from Aspley, said: “It’s confusing but if you press the buttons at crossings they usually go green quickly here so you're not waiting for too long - but the drivers around here can be bad which isn't the junctions fault. I think there’s junctions where they aren’t needed.
"They should just have one crossing and that way traffic could move faster round the city centre. It’s general knowledge to look both ways but to be honest I don’t always look, when your crossing by the tram tracks way you can hear when it’s about to go anyways.”
Sana Khan, 23, a full time mum who lives in Nottingham city centre, disagreed about the crossing. “It’s alright because it’s traffic lighted most places, it can just be difficult to get the little one to wait and teach them to stop at crossings. I don’t find it confusing to cross though the signs are fairly easy to follow," Ms Khan said.
On Shakespeare Street, which runs from the busy Victoria Centre junction to Nottingham Trent University's city campus, pedestrians said they disliked the bigger crossings in the city and also found the crossing next to Nottingham Trent University's pedestrian area odd.
Vimbai Mutimutema, 27, a charity worker from St Ann’s, had issues with the junction where Mansfield Road, Milton Street, and Shakespeare Street meet. “I come this way a lot so it’s familiar [crossing with South Sherwood Street] to me. Signage around the tram areas could be increased but familiarity helps knowing where to cross and how it works, but around tram stops I’m often unsure if I can cross. I find the crossing by Victoria Centre McDonald’s confusing though because there’s no signage and sometimes I can get in the way of a bus!”
A NTU lecturer, 41, who did want to be named, said: “It's not confusing but it’s annoying to look as you cross. The Sneinton area is very confusing as there’s two lanes and no lights. The city centre is clear but if there’s was anything to complain about it would be the long wait time for the green man.”
Nadia, 22, originally from the Czech Republic, said: “Yeah I find it confusing but it’s also not bad here because you can tell which direction your going to towards. Bigger crossings though are more confusing to work out how to get over the road. Sometimes I’m not sure or forget which direction the cars come when I’m crossing as I’m from the Czech Republic.”
Locals highlighted Chaucer Street opposite NTU Newton building as an example of a problem spot for drivers - where you motorists can only turn right, as turning left will bring you onto the tram tracks and result in a fine. Emilie Ihle, 23, a student from Derby studying forensic science, said: “I don’t think the signage is very clear on this road. More signs are definitely needed at least bigger ones as they are hard to read and hard to spot."
Oliver Fairey, 26, Goldsmith court assistant residence manager from Beeston, said: “It's not very well signed and it doesn’t explain your can’t turn left yet and you also can’t tell by the sign if you can turn right. I’ve not witnessed any collisions at this junction but I have seen people turn left and get in the way of the tram forcing it to slow down or stop. I’ve seen this happen two or three times since I started this job last year.”
Louise fletcher, 25, Goldsmith court residence manager from Beeston - “For this years check in we used the church car park next door but as a junction it is confusing and Nottingham is hard to drive around. No one got fined for parking on this street for last years check in but I’m not sure if anyone got fined turning left. Because I work here I know the junction so I know not to turn left but I did have a fine for driving in a bus lane which I didn’t realise I did until I got a fine handed to me!”
Have your say on Nottingham's most confusing junctions in the comments section below of by emailing newsdesk@nottinghampost.com
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