WHAT’S HAPPENING TO THE TRAFFIC IN DERBY?
“Have we got a congestion problem in Derby? … Is congestion charging coming to Derby? … Why is traffic on the A52 always blocked at the Wyvern/Pride Park at peak times?”
When selling commercial property in Derby to companies from outside the area, we’ve always highlighted Nottingham’s horrendous congestion problems and used that to Derby’s advantage, on the basis that Derby doesn’t have anything like the kind of traffic problems that Nottingham, and also Leicester, have at peak times.
However, the above threads are starting to appear more and more in discussions, particularly with office-based companies who are seeking to move into or around the Derby area. It seems that all of a sudden, every traffic problem that Derby has, has reared up and got worse very quickly. When this is considered in the context of national policy, it raises all kinds of discussion points, with the threat of congestion charging and its associated costs understandably raising tension.
Two months ago I moved into offices on Pride Park and living in Ockbrook, I make the journey along the A52 that is familiar to thousands of other commuters. Is it my imagination, or has the problem on the A52 really only emerged over the last 12 months?
Sadly, all the extra traffic passing through Pride Park in the morning and out again in the evening is not visiting my new offices! Seriously, though, it doesn’t appear that there are any new facilities on Pride Park that are attracting the traffic; instead the problem is one of traffic management, with people using the A52/A6 link as a cut-through to avoid the south east and eastern part of the city centre inner ring road.
I guess the problem looks a little more serious than it really is when you consider all the infrastructure works that continue to take place around the city centre. A kind of ‘collision’ of the various works, from the inner ring road improvements, alterations to the Cockpit to facilitate Riverlights and work around Westfield, are having the combined effect of providing further obstructions and blockages, which are slowing up traffic in addition to Pride Park.
To my mind, congestion charging is not needed in Derby, neither now or in the mid term. To impose congestion charging on a city the size of Derby would require a UK-wide policy review and supporting taxation changes. And as we all know, those kinds of decisions are not taken quickly or lightly. For companies who are considering relocating their offices in Derby and think that extra charges are on the way in, my view is that they’re not and not to worry about it.
Clearly, the opening of Westfield in September will have an impact on the dynamics of how traffic moves, certainly around the southern part of the city centre. But, at this stage, everyone is still guessing and we need to see it in action.
I cannot believe that in the last 12 months the numbers of commuters heading in and out of Derby have increased that much. Instead, it is the routes that people are taking that has changed and that’s where I would urge greater discussion between the Local Authority and the private sector to see if we can identify ways of moving the traffic around differently to free up these blockages.
From studying an aerial photograph of Pride Park recently with the project manager who built Pride Park Stadium, the size and scale of the roads into Pride Park and particularly the two bridges are more than capable of dealing with the development currently built on Pride Park and also more in addition.
Pride Park isn’t the problem and doesn’t have a problem. It would be very bad news if new employers pulled out of investing in Derby because of what I believe is a short term traffic problem.
