A514

A514 has always provided a link between Swadlincote, in South Derbyshire, to the city of Derby.

Route

Cadley Hill - Woodville

The modern A514 heads east from the A444 at Cadley Hill Roundabout through an area of adjoining factory and wholesale units on the site of the former colliery. The route doglegs via two roundabouts to join William Nadin Way, the feeder road into Swadlincote. Originally there was a clear run into the town, but a roundabout was put in half way along in about 2022 to provide an entrance to a new adjacent housing estate.

The road enters Swadlincote at the roundabout beside Sainsbury's and proceeds up Civic Way. Along here are the South Derbyshire District Council Offices, Bus Park, Library and Post Office on the right hand side, and the Police Station, Health Clinic and the fire and ambulance station on the left. Once there was a Magistrates' Court and separate Ambulance Station as well. After the Midland Road junction the A514 takes a long sweeping right hand bend along the Swadlincote Relief Road, with many retail car park entrances. On the right is the length of the back of the High Street, whilst the left side has just one smallish, more modern retail park hidden out of view.

A straight climb leads up to a roundabout with Church Street and onto the Relief Road Extension. This has a slightly less urban feel to it, with trees of the Swadlincote Woodlands being on the left hand side. Shortly after is the traffic light junction with Sir Herbert Wragg Way, which leads to the retail parks and supermarkets on the east side of the town. In view on the right is the "alpine" chalet like building of Swadlincote Ski Centre and Toboggan Run. The road curves to the left past the entrance to Swadlincote Woodlands and levels out to the roundabout at Woodhouse Junction. Woodville is entered, with a long line of houses on either side, before the industrial units in the dip before Clock Roundabout. This busy junction is where A514 crosses the A511, with Moira Road and entrances from the art deco garage building joining too.

Woodville - Chellaston

Swarkestone Bridge

From Woodville the road sweeps down to Hartshorne before making a long but pleasant climb past Foremark Reservoir, out of view on the left, to the picturesque village of Ticknall. In Ticknall the A514 meets the B5006.

After leaving Ticknall, the A514 again climbs to the high ground – below the East Midlands Airport approach path – to Stanton before sweeping down to cross the Trent by the medieval Swarkestone Bridge. The A514 went from Ticknall to Stanton originally via Melbourne town centre but now effectively bypasses the town by running along the hill ridge of the former B5007. After crossing the river Trent the road makes a sharp right turn near the Crewe & Harper pub (junction with the A5132 from Willington) and, after a mile, reaches a roundabout interchange with the A50 Derby Southern Bypass at J3. After the exit from the A50 roundabout, the A514 continues into Chellaston and towards Derby City Centre.

A feasibility study was made in 2010 about the bypass of Swarkestone Bridge, and the villages of Stanton and Swarkestone. It found three routes to be feasible. The Swarkestone and Stanton bypass was listed as a potential major project in the consultation for Derbyshire's next Local Transport Plan.

Chellaston - Derby City Centre

The A514 is the main road through the Southern Derby suburbs including Chellaston, where it goes through two sets of traffic lights, one a pedestrian crossing outside Chellaston School, and another set at the junction with Station Road and High Street, the latter leading towards Alvaston and the A6 roundabout. Through most of Chellaston the A514 is known as Swarkestone Road; however, after the Station Road and High Street junction it becomes Derby Road.

Shortly after the Station Road and High Street Junction, the A514 negotiates a small roundabout junction with Parkway and Maple Drive, the main roads through two of Chellaston's numerous housing estates.

Further down the A514, the road enters Shelton Lock (named after part of the Derby Canal, now a cycle path), passing a GATSO camera, a pub, The New Bridge Inn, and an Esso petrol station. From here until Allenton the A514 is also called Chellaston Road. After this the A514 reaches a signalised junction with Boulton Lane and Merril way, the latter leading to one of Derby's major employers, Rolls-Royce, and also to Sinfin. At this point the A514 reaches Allenton. (From here the rest of the A514 to Derby is also the route of the 61 bus). Allenton is often very busy, as for some reason it is a favourite shopping destination for the elderly, and consequently the A514 is very busy.

Mitre Island

In Allenton, the A514 reaches the Mitre (or Spider - named after the unusual footbridge) Island, and the junction with the A5111 which is Derby's Outer Ring Road. The Mitre Island is a small signalised roundabout. From here the remainder of the A514 is named Osmaston Road. A few hundred metres after the Spider Island, the A514 meets Ascot Drive, a busy road through an industrial estate which links the A514 to Pride Park and the A6. The road then runs through the Pear Tree area of the city, where it meets Litchurch Lane at a signalised junction, with a short section of bus lane on the left.

The road then meets Douglas Street (leading to the Normanton area of the city) and Reginald Street at signalised junctions, with a short section of D1, one side having a lane for normal traffic and a bus lane, the other having one lane, with another, narrow lane, hatched out. After this the road meets Derby's Inner Ring Road, the A601, at a roundabout controlled by traffic lights. The A514 ends here but originally continued on to end on the A6 London Road.

History

Parts of the A514, at least from central Derby to Chellaston, were a turnpike road. The A514 through Chellaston became a turnpike in 1856.

Swadlincote

The route shown in 1962, heading east from Gresley railway Station

The original route began at High Cross Bank (Castle Gresley) from a T junction with the A444 (in the 1920s the A511), adjacent to the bridge over the Burton-upon-Trent to Leicester railway line. From here the road passed the former Gresley railway station then climbed the 1 in 10 gradient of Cappy Hill to Church Gresley at St George's Square (by the church and former colliery). It followed Church Street (known locally as Front Street) then continued on Common Road, running alongside Gresley Park, to cross the B586 at Blackshed Island. After crossing part of Gresley Common there was another short climb up to the former Granville Colliery, and adjacent potteries, before a short descent to rejoin the original route at Swadlincote Road, Woodville at Woodhouse Junction.

The route changed in 1996 to bypass Church Gresley and instead pass through Swadlincote Town Centre on the relief road to link up with the newer industrial sites to the west of Swadlincote. The new starting point was at Cadley Hill Roundabout, about a mile north of the original start point on A444. William Nadin Way from Cadley Hill to Civic Way was opened on 26 July 1996 by George Wright, the area's oldest living miner - aged 102. Part at the Cadley Hill end had opened earlier to facilitate the opening of new business concerns. It was financed by RJB Mining as part of planning permission for opencast mining at the adjacent Nadins site, and cost £2 million.

Ticknall - Stanton-by-Bridge

The route through Melbourne shown for the last time in 1971

The original route was through the centre of Melbourne. From Ticknall it climbed Beighton's Hill, ran across Melbourne Common then descended Robinson's Hill. A left turn took the road through Melbourne and out on the Derby Road. It then followed the course of the current B587 to Stanton-by-Bridge to continue onwards to Swarkestone Bridge.

The A514 was rerouted up Stanton Hill and along the route of the defunct B5007 in the early 1970s. From the OS Quarter inch maps it was between the April 1971 and February 1972 editions. This created a TOTSO at the T junction where it rejoined the original route at Stanton-by-Bridge.

Derby

The Spot - The A514 headed south on Osmaston Road to the right

The A514 used to run a further 0.2 miles along Osmaston Road into the centre of Derby, terminating at the junction known as The Spot, where it met the former route of the A6.

Southern extension

A previous contributor mentioned that there was the possibility that the A514 was planned originally to run from the A515 at Yoxall along what is now the B5016 to the original A38 crossroads at Barton Turns, and, after bridging the River Trent at Walton, continue along currently unclassified roads to the A444 at either Cadley Hill or High Cross Bank, Castle Gresley. The poor state of the river bridge in the 1920s would have made this difficult, as indeed the one lane Bailey construction does today. Swadlincote has also never had any real commercial ties with Lichfield.

Local development plans include provision for a new bridge over the River Trent to the north of the existing one and some groundwork was completed in 2022. This was part of the planning consent for the new Drakow housing estate on part of the site of the former Drakelow Power Station. An extension of A514 to A38 remains unlikely due to the low height limit of the railway overbridge half a mile west of Cadley Hill Roundabout. Any added A38 to A511 through traffic would also impact on the traffic volume through Swadlincote Town Centre.

Links

Swarkestone and Stanton bypass feasibility study (PDF)