A38 campaigners vow to fight on

Campaigners wanting to scrap a major A38 upgrade for Derby have vowed to fight on despite the Government giving it the go-ahead.

The Department for Transport has announced it will carry out major upgrades on the busy road which will aim to quicken journey times, support thousands of homes and boost the city’s economy.

Proposals by National Highways include flyovers and underpasses at the key islands – Kingsway, Markeaton and Little Eaton and the road widened from four to six lanes. However, not all details of the project have yet been provided such as costs and time frames.

The Stop The A38 Expansion group has been campaigning against the upgrades for years and successfully forced the scheme to stop a few years ago.

The project has been clouded with uncertainty over climate and economical concerns and has been taken to court on two occasions.

Campaigners have serious concerns the upgrades will result in thousands of trees being felled at Markeaton Park which will have a “negative impact” on the environment by increasing carbon emissions and will “worsen the climate crisis”. They also say money would be better spent to improve public services, transport projects “that benefit everyone” or on further SEND (special educational needs and disability) provision at a time when spaces are in high demand.

In a statement the group insisted the Government’s go-ahead for the expansion was “not the end of the road” in their battle to stop it. It has vowed to “continue advocating to scrap this scheme and redirect funding to sustainable, fair transport projects that benefit everyone”.

The group said: “The Government has decided that funding a polluting, destructive and pointless road scheme to line the pockets of the private developers is more important than funding for SEND children or preventing disabled people and pensioners falling into poverty. This Government has been willing to cut funding to the most vulnerable in society but has pledged to waste apparently “scarce” public money on a destructive, polluting, unpopular, and ultimately pointless road scheme that will not solve rush hour traffic but actually just increase traffic.

“The full business case will reveal the actual costs and whether the Government still thinks this scheme is worth hundreds of millions of money, especially when many new major road schemes come with significant disruption and damage while providing only temporary congestion relief before induced demand kicks in.

“This is not the end of the road. We will continue advocating to scrap this scheme and redirect funding to sustainable, fair transport projects that benefit everyone.”

The A38 was just one of a number major road projects given the go-ahead following a £92 billion investment to deliver “the biggest boost” to the country’s transport infrastructure.

A statement from Claire Ward, Mayor of East Midlands County Combined Authority said the A38 and other road upgrades were “a big win” for the region.

She said: “The A38 improvements in Derby will help deliver 15,000 new homes and hundreds of new businesses, helping the city grow sustainably. Funding for the scheme and the A46 Newark Bypass is a big win for our region, cutting congestion, improving journey times, and unlocking thousands of jobs and new homes.”

In response to the campaign group’s statement, the Department for Transport said its approved scheme will make “working people better off” and it will mean “journey times will be slashed, saving commuters businesses and freight thousands of hours every week, boosting economic growth across the whole country”.

Chancellor Rachel Reeves added: “These vital investments are long overdue, will transform local communities and improve living standards across the country.”