Derby Resident Gail Roberts Loses Home for A38 Road Scheme Shelved After £250 Million Expenditure

Gail Roberts of Derby has publicly recounted the impact of the now-shelved A38 expansion project, which led to the compulsory purchase and demolition of her family home. The scheme, part of a wider £250 million expenditure, aimed to widen a 7.5-mile stretch of the A38 between Derby and Birmingham to alleviate traffic congestion.

National Highways confirmed the cancellation of the project following a government review, stating that it was no longer proceeding. This decision emerged after years of planning, property acquisition, and preparatory work that saw numerous homes and businesses expropriated and subsequently demolished.

Mrs Roberts described the process as a "criminal waste of taxpayers' money," highlighting the personal toll alongside the financial extravagance. Her former home was acquired in 2021 and subsequently razed. The cancellation leaves a trail of demolished properties and significant public funds expended on a project that will not materialise.

Critics point to the incident as another example of governmental mismanagement of large-scale infrastructure projects, where public funds are committed without sufficient foresight, ultimately impacting ordinary citizens and draining the public purse without delivering the promised benefits.