WORK has begun to prepare two busy Derby roundabouts for multi-million-pound schemes to cut congestion, the Transport Secretary has announced in Parliament.
A total of £6.7 million of Government cash will be spent at the Little Eaton and Markeaton roundabouts.
Now Transport Secretary and Derbyshire Dales MP Patrick McLoughlin has announced that "work has already started on preparing the sites".
The Highways Agency has confirmed it expects to start work on both sites in July and that it will last for 16 weeks. New lanes, traffic lights and streetlights will be added to the roundabouts.
Mr McLoughlin made his comment after Mid-Derbyshire MP Pauline Latham said traffic at the roundabouts was causing "misery for her constituents".
Mrs Latham, who lives in Little Eaton, said she faced delays of 10 to 15 minutes at Little Eaton Island during the morning and evening rush hours.
She said: "The schemes will mean we won't have the traffic congestion so people can get into and out of Derby more easily. It will also improve air quality because there won't be standing traffic at the junctions choking us with their fumes."
An agency statement said: "The A38 through Derby suffers from heavy peak-time traffic, particularly at Little Eaton and Markeaton Roundabouts. The congestion conflicts with numerous turning and crossing movements at these junctions."
No details of how the changes will affect traffic have yet been announced. The Highways Agency said it could not provide any further details while the local elections were taking place.
It said the Little Eaton work will cost £2.7 million and Markeaton scheme £4 million, with the cash coming from the Department for Transport.
The agency previously said that the Little Eaton Island traffic lights would run full-time as a result of the work and that lanes to the A38 northbound will be widened, along with the northbound section of the roundabout. The A61 will also be widened where it approaches and leaves the junction.
The southbound carriageway of the A38 will be widened as it approaches Markeaton Island.
Work taking place to prepare the two sites includes clearing the ground and safety surveys.
