M1 East Midlands multi-modal study, England

The M1 East Midlands study was one of the first multi-modal studies commissioned as a direct response to the recommendations of the UK Government's 1998 trunk roads review in England. The immediate genesis of the study was a proposal for the widening of the M1 motorway and a bypass of the A6 at Kegworth, which were placed on hold in the trunk roads review. The remit for the study was to develop a long-term (20-year) transport strategy that addressed the problems in the study area. Within this context, the study aimed to set out a plan of specific intervention to address the most urgent transport problems. A multi-modal package with an estimated cost of £1·8 billion was recommended, including substantial motorway widening and junction improvements, three local bypasses, a doubling of heavy rail services, six new light rail lines as well as a number of new strategic park-and-ride sites. In addition, a number of policy and behavioural change recommendations were made. This paper describes the main transport issues in the study area, the range of options considered and the final study recommendations. Headline results of the appraisal outputs are given as well as the response of the Regional Planning Body and the ministerial announcement on the study's recommendations.