Fury over new Derby bus lane for A6 Duffield Road branded 'a complete waste of money'
Hundreds of people have objected to plans to install a new bus lane on a busy Derby road as fuming residents claim it could be “a complete waste of money” and will have “no benefit” for road users.
It is claimed around 500 people at least have objected to Derby City Council-led proposals for change at the A6 Duffield Road – known to be one of the busiest roads in the city during peak times.
The road, where St Benedict Catholic School is situated, could undergo major change should the bus lane plans get the go-ahead.
A similar bus lane project is also proposed for Osmaston Road near the city’s Spider Island – which has also received objections.
The Duffield Road plan could see a bus lane installed between the junctions of Thatch Close and near to Mile Ash Lane. It also includes making improvements to the existing cycle lanes and footways.
The city council says the road is particularly busy in the mornings with queues along Duffield Road reaching approximately 150 vehicles back from the Broadway junction – and therefore has significant impacts on bus journey times and bus speeds.
Council bosses state the key objectives of the proposals are “to encourage an increase in journeys by low-carbon, sustainable travel modes which in turn would help contribute to climate change objectives, reduce air pollution and improve public health”.
The plans have been met with concern by residents with around 500 expressing objections since a public consultation was launched. They say similar proposals have been done on the road before, years ago, and not worked.
But the public consultation by Derby City Council said new proposals are aimed to address previous concerns: It says: “A bus lane was previously installed on Duffield Road in 2008 between Church Lane and the roundabout at Broadway. The bus lane was removed as residents raised concerns about safety, particularly around the junction of Mile Ash Lane.
“The current proposal is to stop the bus lane north of the Mile Ash Lane junction which removes these concerns. The proposal also improves safety for cyclists by providing a two-way shared-use route over the length of the proposed bus lane.”
Residents against the proposals say any changes would be a “pointless exercise”. One resident said in a petition: “The scheme is a total waste of time and money. The problem exits at the Broadway roundabout for about 20 minutes each morning so traffic problems need to be resolved there and the flow will be much better.“
Another petition contributor added: “(It is) a huge cost for little or if any benefit. Money should be reallocated to schemes which the council has stopped funding.”
And another worried resident added: “A bus lane will cause more congestion and be a waste of money. The bus lane was removed so why try a new one?”
Funding for the project, should it go ahead, would come from the Government and not from council spending.
A spokesperson for Derby City Council said: “The consultation has now closed, and we are happy to have received over 1,000 responses to both the Duffield Road and Ostmaston Road schemes. We are now in the process of analysing each response carefully and we will update residents in due process [sic].
“We are unable to comment further on the proposed schemes until the analysis has been completed.”