Preferred option announcement
Following an eight-week public consultation that took place during August and September 2018, Derby City Council gave the feedback careful consideration.
Combined with other technical evidence, this information was used to select and refine our preferred option to help address roadside NO2 air quality issues in Derby.
The assessments showed that the traffic management option was the best option for Derby.
Further refinement of this option was undertaken, following the consultation process, to ensure that it was the best option to meet the project’s aims.
Derby City Council implemented traffic management measures to manage the traffic flow in and around Stafford Street, including the roads closest to the exceedance location:
- Changes to the junctions at either end of Stafford Street to restrict traffic flow in the most sensitive area.
- Changes to improve capacity at the Ashbourne Road / Uttoxeter Old Road junction to help provide alternative route choices.
- Traffic management measures to support alternative routes such as Uttoxeter Old Road.
Ensuring the full air quality benefits were achieved from the proposed changes to Stafford Street traffic management, the following changes were made at the Ashbourne Road / Uttoxeter Old Road junction:
- two general traffic lanes from Uttoxeter Old Road into Friar Gate
- two lanes of general traffic from Friar Gate into Bridge Street.
These were supported by wider network management measures to ensure that we achieved the best possible benefits for the package of measures and limited any negative impacts including:
- Improvements to the network management control system that managed traffic signals in Derby to improve the system so that it could manage the traffic flows and the road network in support of the air quality agenda.
Supporting measures
The local air quality plan also proposed schemes to help with the early uptake of low emission vehicles and provide greater encouragement of the use of sustainable and active travel choices.
This included further promotion of sustainable and active travel options and other supporting schemes to help the public make informed travel choices including:
- Clean air incentive scheme targeting accelerated fleet renewal, incentives to upgrade or switch to low emission vehicles, or an alternative form of transport through the use of mobility credits, or community car clubs.
- Electric vehicle charging infrastructure and other measures to support electric vehicle uptake.
The proposal did not include a clean air zone or any form of charging. It was considered that the package of measures proposed for the preferred option could achieve the aims of the project without the need for a clean air zone. In prioritising specific measures on the highway network to address the exceedance, there was some redistribution of traffic flow.
Read our news announcement.