The business case

Derby City Council submitted the full business case to government on Tuesday 26th March, which details how it will tackle and reduce roadside NO2 emissions in the city.

The full business case put forward a traffic and network management solution to tackle the one area of exceedance identified on Stafford Street, in response to prescribed limits determined by EU legislation. It included several junction design changes, and a significant modernisation of the Council’s urban traffic management system:

• Changes to the junctions at either end of Stafford Street to limit traffic flow at the exceedance point.
• Changes to improve capacity at the Ashbourne Road / Uttoxeter Old Road junction and on Friar Gate to help provide alternative route choices.
• Traffic management measures to support the use of alternative routes, such as Uttoxeter Old Road.
• Enhancement of the city’s Urban Traffic Management and Control (UTMC) system, to enable more dynamic management of traffic flows, with emissions reduction and air quality objectives prioritised alongside the need to manage the network, in particular at peak periods and when incidents occur on the network.
• Improvements to the local highway network, including re-waterproofing and resurfacing of a bridge over a former railway line, to ensure medium-term network availability, resilience and reliability. 

The traffic management measures outlined in the business case was approved by the Secretary of State on 13th May 2019, and a ministerial direction issued.

We welcome the outcome of the Ministerial Decision and approval of the traffic management scheme, and remain fully committed to meeting our legal duty to reduce roadside NO­2 emissions at the site of exceedance. 

Work is currently underway on procuring work and equipment to implement the plans laid out in the business case, and minor physical road changes will begin to take place.

Monitoring of Stafford Street will be carried out continuously from implementation to 2025.