As shown on page 5 of this government letter, the primary purpose of this scheme is to create additional road capacity to enable more developments, especially on greenfield sites to the West of Derby.

National Highways planning documents also predict an increase in emissions from additional traffic.

When that additional capacity is created for a minimum of 11,000 developments, the roads will fill up again. The A38 road layout was last updated in the 1980’s for the same reasons of facilitating development and reducing congestion, but within 20 years, there was talk of expanding it further.

Studies have shown throughout the years that new roads don’t ease congestion, but make it worse, because the ‘induced’ traffic fills up all of the new road space and spills over onto the rest of the road network.

National Highways tree felling plans show the loss of thousands of trees including an irreplaceable, nearly 300 year old veteran oak tree.

11.38 hectares of woodland will be cut down for the A38 expansion. According to National Highways own biodiversity statement, the scheme will result in the complete loss of the A38 Kingsway roundabout Local Wildlife Site. They will only replant 6.40 hectares.

It will take decades for those saplings to offer the same benefits to wildlife, shade, noise & visual screening and carbon storage.

That may never happen as extreme heat from the climate crisis has caused saplings planted as mitigation in other road schemes to die with replanting costing millions.

On page 38 in these National Highways documents there is a table showing minimal NO2 (nitrous oxide) concentration reductions in some areas (with increases in others) from predicted traffic growth and road realignment.

However those NO2 levels are not in line with the latest World Health Organisation recommended safe air quality levels.

Derby City Council admits in their Air Quality Action Plan that the A38 road works will make air pollution worse in the city during construction.

National Highways have also admitted that there will be noise increases for many residential areas.

There are currently no traffic mitigation plans in place for the four years of roadworks and closures of the A38.

The government’s decision letter acknowledges that the construction will cause driver stress and ” there would likely be increased congestion and delays to parts of the local road network during the construction phase and there is a degree of uncertainty about what the precise extent of that would be”.

Due to the location of the works, this will impact access to key areas in our city such as shops at Kingsway, Royal Derby Hospital and the University of Derby.

Many local residents and businesses have faced “compulsory purchase orders” where the Government has forced them to sell their property for the scheme. As an example, the houses on Queensway opposite Markeaton Park have now been boarded up for years.

There will also be a loss of public space from Mackworth park and Markeaton park. In total this will be the same as 10 football fields of green space.