Why cancel the A38 Derby Junctions road expansion scheme? 

Below is a one page briefing from a longer report submitted to the new labour Government’s Chancellor and Secretary of State for Transport on why the A38 road expansion should be cancelled as it is a low-value road scheme with huge environmental and social disbenefits where the aims to reduce congestion and facilitate more development can be achieved with alternatives that are lower cost, less disruptive and with fewer environmental and social costs.

Please feel free to use this when writing to your political representatives.

  • Legacy of the old Conservative Government: This destructive, polluting and wasteful scheme was pushed through by the previous Conservative Government (despite it being found unlawful in 2021), relying on outdated economic assessments and dismissing the significant environmental and social harms of the scheme as the doubtful economic benefits apparently outweighed them. 

  • Call to action for the Labour Government: The new Labour Government has the chance to correct the mistakes of the past, cancel the A38 scheme, and invest in public transport and road maintenance that benefits Derby and the broader UK. This would be a decisive move towards fiscal responsibility and environmental sustainability.

  • Avoid wasting over £250 million of public funds: The scheme costs were last estimated in 2019 and are likely to be more now due to inflation, increased construction costs and carbon pricing. The £250 million cost of the scheme is a misuse of public funds, especially at a time when the Government faces a £22 billion budget deficit. 

  • Flawed economic justification: The A38 Derby Junctions scheme is based on an outdated 2019 economic assessment. Independent analysis suggests that the benefit-cost ratio (BCR) could now fall below 2, indicating poor value for money. Despite this, the old Conservative Government moved forward with the scheme.

  • Journey-saving benefits are likely exaggerated: National Highways published a report in 2017 which found that congestion was made worse on dozens of major roads in England by a project to tackle bottlenecks. The pinch-point programme was started in 2011 to relieve congestion, stimulate growth in local economies and improve safety, but the report showed most schemes had failed to do this. It’s likely the A38 scheme will also fail in its aims, especially due to induced demand by enabling more car-dependent developments. 

  • Environmental destruction: The scheme will result in the loss of 11.38 hectares of woodland, with only 6.40 hectares being replanted. It will also cause significant damage to wildlife sites (including the complete destruction of the Kingsway roundabout wildlife site) and public green spaces, and involves the compulsory purchase of private properties, including homes, gardens and agricultural land.

  • Increased pollution: The scheme’s planning documents state an increase in traffic and NO2 emissions in Derby, particularly around Markeaton Roundabout near the Royal School for the Deaf where residents will be exposed to higher levels of air pollution. 

  • Traffic chaos: More than four years of construction will cause severe traffic disruptions in and around Derby, with no effective traffic mitigation plan in place. After completion, traffic is forecast to increase due to the “minimum of 11,000” car-dependent developments that the expansion would facilitate through increased capacity. 

  • The scheme is not necessary to support the development of new housing in and around Derby. The expansion risks entrenching car dependency, increasing congestion and causing huge environmental harm. Recent developments in Derby demonstrate that sustainable growth is achievable without increasing road capacity, in line with the new Labour Government’s ambitious climate goals.

  • Alternative solutions have never been considered: National Highways only proposed road-based projects and no research into multi-modal solutions was ever conducted. 

  • Alternative solutions are cheaper, faster and less harmful: In the short term, better traffic signalling, improved road signs, lowering speed limits, pedestrian and cyclist bridges / underpasses and even road pricing could alleviate congestion while longer term, multi-modal transport solutions are researched and implemented.