Derby City Council has approved formal collaboration with two other authorities to secure £50m of central government cash towards a major road scheme to serve Infinity Park Derby (IPD).
In October 2021, Derbyshire County Council was awarded £49.6m ‘in principle’ from the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to help fund a new £60m junction and link road off the A50, serving IPD and the Wragley Way housing development within the city.
To secure the cash the county council will need to submit a business case, working with South Derbyshire District Council and the Derby City Council, whose strategic director of communities and place will lead the work. Planning consent for the A50 junction and link road was secured in April 2021.
The cash was the single largest transport grant from the first round of the £4.8bn fund, which allocated £1.7bn.
Image: Pegasus Group
The junction is to be built where the A50 crosses Deep Dale Lane and the link road would run up to IPD, the city’s flagship regeneration project.
It is part of a major scheme to build up to 4,500 new homes and create 5,000 new jobs between the A50 and Derby – forming the proposed Infinity Garden Village and the southern extension to the IPC.
Derby City Council chief executive Paul Simpson said: ‘The new A50 junction and link road to Infinity Park Way is a key piece of infrastructure, which will unlock a substantial area of land to develop employment and housing proposed as part of planned strategic growth south of Derby.'
The project is currently programmed for delivery between 2023 and early 2025, with a £15m advanced manufacturing research facility in IPD, currently under construction, set to benefit from the new junction.
IPD said Nuclear AMRC Midlands follows a successful pilot programme at Connect iHub, joined by the University of Derby, and will support 35 collaborative research and development projects, including high value sectors such as aerospace, automotive and rail within the first five years.
It added that the 46,728 square foot new laboratories will become a critical hub for the advanced manufacturing industry, seeking knowledge on the latest carbon neutral supply chain technologies.
Work on the facility is now underway, scheduled for completion by early 2023.
