Councillor fears ‘reduced’ plans for £166m Staveley bypass may lead to congestion

The long-awaited 3.7mile Chesterfield-Staveley Regeneration Route scheme which is being overseen by Derbyshire County Council aims to run from the roundabout, at Sainsbury’s supermarket, on the A619, in Chesterfield, to the Heritage Green Estate before finishing at Hall Lane, in Staveley.

Town Cllr Paul Jacobs has welcomed the long-awaited proposed Staveley bypass but he is concerned plans to have it only go as far as Hall Lane, Staveley, and have it reduced to one lane, may cause congestion at Lowgates, Mastin Moor and Woodthorpe.

Cllr Jacobs said: “The plans have been badly reduced. The dual carriageway bypass from Tapton to Barlborough, M1 Junction 30, is now to be a single lane road that stops at Hall Lane, at Lowgates.”

The Staveley Bypass plans aim to open up disused former industrial land for housing including 1,800 new homes, create an estimated 3,400 jobs from new businesses, and reduce congestion and pollution for Brimington and Staveley.

However, Cllr Jacobs believes the reduced plans could mean that extra vehicle traffic from the promised 1,800 homes and 3,400 jobs will be funnelled into the already very congested Lowgates and Worksop Road.

He said: “This road is already a nightmare for residents, road users and pedestrians alike. It will soon get even worse when the 650 houses are built between Mastin Moor and Woodthorpe. To then deliberately channel traffic from another 1,800 houses, plus new industrial estates, onto it is outright lunacy.”

Cllr Jacobs added: “If they terminate the new road at Hall Lane it will gridlock the A619 from Lowgates to Barlborough – even more than already happens on a regular basis. The current plan almost seems designed to deliberately make things far worse for residents of Lowgates, Mastin Moor and Woodthorpe.”

Derbyshire County Council has put in a bid for Government funding to support the proposed project with a grant of up to 85 per cent which amounts to £141m, and a local contribution of £25m will also be required to fund the overall scheme.

NE Derbyshire Conservative MP Lee Rowley has recently stressed the importance of the scheme to the Minister for Roads MP Richard Holden.

Mr Rowley hopes a Government decision about the funding will be announced in the coming months and a formal planning application is due to be submitted later this year.

A Derbyshire County Council spokesperson said: “A number of options have been explored for routes bypassing Staveley and Brimington and extensive consultation has been carried out on scheme proposals.

“The eastern section has not been included since the completion of the A6192 northern loop around Staveley which gives an alternative route to the M1, via Junction 29a, without incurring significant cost and environmental impact of any new road east of Staveley.

“The current proposals reduce the scheme from dual to single carriageway which we believe is adequate to deal with forecast levels of traffic, including that generated by development of land along the corridor.

“The scheme is still to be submitted for planning consent, expected to be towards the end of this year. This will be supported by a Transportation Assessment detailing the impacts on other local roads and, where necessary, any supporting measures on these such as junction improvements.

“Before submitting an application we will present designs to the public along with scheme impacts, and there will be an opportunity for people to give their views on the application itself at that stage.”