§ Mr. Altonasked the Minister of Transport what traffic flows were predicted for the Dronfield bypass to justify its construction; and what traffic flows are currently to be found on it.
§ Mr. Kenneth ClarkeThe traffic flows predicted for the design year—1988—for the bypass north and south of the Sheep-bridge interchange were 14,000 and 19,100 vehicles per day respectively. In October 1979 the actual traffic flow on the northern section was above 9,600 vehicles per day but that can of course be expected to increase by 1988. No figures are available for the southern section.
The predicted flows assumed improvement of the A61 south of Chesterfield. This has not taken place, but instead the A61—now A38—has been linked to the M1 at Alfreton—junction 28. This reduces the volume of traffic taking the A61 route past Dronfield.