£14.9m A52 upgrade to create 3,300 jobs
A £14.9m project to improve safety and reduce congestion on a major route linking Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire, to be funded by Derby City Council and the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP), is set to create some 3,300 jobs.
The A52 road linking the two counties experiences high volumes of traffic. On average, 72,790 vehicles daily use the area around the A52’s Wyvern Way junctions; which provide links to the nearby Derby city centre and Pride Park business park, as well as to the M1 motorway and wider roads network.
To tackle traffic congestion on this part of the A52 Derby City Council has successfully bid for project funding from the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s Local Growth Fund, which has just been approved by the D2N2 area Infrastructure and Investment Board.
The £14.9m project to widen the A52 around Wyvern Way and install new signalling at the junction will be funded via £6.7m from D2N2’s Local Growth Fund, £1.7m from Derby City Council, £2.6m from the Highways England Growth and Housing Fund, £2.6m from the ‘Derby Triangle’ agreement, £669,000 from the National Productivity Investment Fund, £251,870 in developer contributions and £200,000 from the Local Transport Plan.
Planning permission for the project was given in April 2016, with Derby City Council Cabinet signing off the scheme in December 2016. Main construction works, due to begin next month (September) and be completed by December 2018, will include:
· extra lanes and a 50mph speed limit on the A52, near the Wyvern junctions;
· extra lanes and improvements on Wyvern Way;
· improvements to Pullman Road, the Stanier Way roundabout and the entrance to the Wyvern Business Park;
· a replacement footbridge linking Meadow Lane, Chaddesden and Wyvern;
· realigned accesses to and from the Wyvern/Pride Park and the A52;
· new signal controlled crossroads at the junction of Wyvern Way and Derwent Parade;
· bus priority detectors on the westbound approach to the traffic signals;
· new shared use pedestrian and cycle routes in Wyvern Way and Pullman Road;
· crossing facilities at junctions;
· resurfacing;
· replacement safety barriers.
It is estimated project benefits will include:
· creating 3,300 jobs (including via construction works);
· ‘unlocking’, or making accessible, around 23 hectares of brownfield employment land;
· installing a replacement foot/cycle bridge;
· creating 2.5kilometres of shared use foot/cycle paths;
· providing 55,000 square metres of drained area, via sustainable drainage, and more than 5,000 sq m of wetland habitat.
Phase One of the main construction, due to begin next month (September), will include installation of a central reserve and building an additional A52 lane; followed by widening and resurfacing works in Phase Two.
D2N2 is the private sector-led Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) of business, local authorities, skills and training providers, and community and voluntary services which promotes economic and jobs growth across Derby, Derbyshire, Nottingham and Nottinghamshire. Its Local Growth Fund, allocated via Government, aims to co-fund building works which create the infrastructure necessary for economic growth; for example, better roads, and skills and employment sites.
Tom Goshawk, D2N2 capital projects manager, said: “Transport is a vital part of every successful economy. Businesses need well-developed links to transport goods and services efficiently, and workers need to be able to reach places of employment.
“That is why we’re working closely with Derby City Council to improve access to, and use of, one of the key arterial routes in our area.”
Councillor Martin Rawson – Derby City Council deputy leader, and cabinet member for regeneration and economy – added: “I am delighted that D2N2 has agreed to part-fund this project, which will improve safety and reduce congestion on the A52 and Wyvern Way.
“Together with other projects under our City Centre Masterplan we will transform Derby into a vibrant and successful city centre, which in turn will drive the local economy.”
