Action considered for Derbyshire's most congested road
It concerns the A61 between Chesterfield and Clay Cross
Last updated 28th Mar 2023
A route between two Derbyshire towns is the most congested in the county and officials are looking to take action.
The A61 between Chesterfield and Clay Cross is home to 3,092 to 5,587 hours of traffic delays each year, with journey times 72 per cent slower during peak hours.
Derbyshire County Council consulted residents last year on a range of options including a new bypass, a new railway station and a new link road, along with roundabout improvements.
A total of 1,011 residents responded, with the highest proportion (32.5 per cent) supporting a new link road between the A61 and the A617, which runs from Chesterfield to the M1.
This was followed by 22.8 per cent backing improvements to the notoriously congested Hornsbridge Roundabout in the centre of Chesterfield, 17.7 per cent backing a Clay Cross bypass, 15.7 per cent supporting a Clay Cross railway station and seven per cent favouring changes to the Lordsmill Roundabout.
A county council report details that a third of all of the people who responded said the 300-metre stretch from St Augustine’s Road to Storforth Lane, on the outskirts of Chesterfield, is the “single location with the most severe delays”.
It says that residents feel as if improvements already made in the area had not resulted in any change to the poor situation, apart from supporting better cycling access.
This included changes to traffic light timings, real-time bus time updates at bus stops, transport technology boards and cycling and walking improvements.
The consultation responses detail that 64.9 per cent of drivers would not consider taking the bus, 76.8 per cent would not walk instead of driving and 76.4 per cent would not cycle – due to the length of their prospective journeys, among other reasons.
A report from the council writes: “The A61 Corridor is a critical artery within the North Derbyshire Growth Zone, facilitating development at two priority sites for the district council – ‘The Avenue’, Wingerworth and the ‘former Biwaters’ Site, Clay Cross, in addition to several other economic growth and housing sites.
“The county council has been leading several workstreams to develop a high-quality integrated transport system to enable ‘clean growth’
“The council, however, recognises that further implementation of transport infrastructure projects is required to tackle the long-standing transport issues and congestion, as well as supporting decarbonisation and improving health and well-being.”
A total of £100,000 is now set to be spent on taking the early consideration of improvement options forward, which will eventually include another public consultation.
Half of this money is from Midlands Connect, a travel improvement body funded by central Government, as part of upgrade plans for the nation’s major roads network.
The county council also details that another route in the county could also become the source of major improvement works, similar to the A61.
This would be the stretch of the A6 between Buxton and the three-way A623 roundabout between Dove Holes and Chapel “due to the long-standing congestion issues on Fairfield Road, in Buxton”.
That scheme would form part of a wider A6 “corridor study” for the whole section of the route from Buxton to Stockport.
Major roadworks are already underway on the A6 at Fairfield Road on the northern gateway out of Buxton towards Dove Holes, with a multi-million-pound roundabout being built, providing access to several future housing developments.