Council bids for £40m for planned Toton link road

A council has submitted a £40m bid to the government to obtain funding for a link road in a town that missed out on an HS2 connection.

Nottinghamshire County Council said it had submitted a bid to the Levelling Up Fund after councillors approved plans for a link road in Toton.

It said the road would consist of a new one-mile (1.6km) single carriageway between the A52 and Stapleford Lane.

A government spokesperson said it welcomed the bid.

In its funding application to the government, the council outlined how the link road had the potential to deliver more than 400 jobs and 2,700 new homes.

Original proposals for the HS2 route suggested it would run through communities on the Derbyshire/Nottinghamshire border to a major hub at Toton, connecting the cities of Nottingham and Derby.

But under new plans announced in November, Toton will become a mainline station on an electrified Midlands Mainline.

Keith Girling, cabinet member for economic development at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: "Nottinghamshire County Council's bid for the Toton Link Road presents an opportunity to get spades in the ground and kick-start major, long-term economic development that is going to bring greater prosperity to Nottinghamshire and the wider region.

"The Government's Integrated Rail Plan... gave us the chance to push ahead with plans for a Network Rail Station at Toton.

"The Link Road will be the first stage in that process of unlocking development at Toton, helping us to enable economic growth, and to build a powerful case for the better transport connectivity that a rail station would be part of."

The council said the new road would be linked to the A52 and the NET tram network.

Broxtowe's Conservative MP Darren Henry said: "We are turning this area into a hotspot for investment."

A decision on the bid for the road is expected in the autumn. Works would then start in 2024, with scheduled completion by 2026.

A spokesperson for the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, said: "We welcome the wide range of bids we've received for the second round of the fund which will help improve and support communities across the UK."

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