Derby
Smart Motorway gantry sign
A gantry structure spanning the motorway with electronic signals, blue signs showing an exit and the following text.
Exit destinations: A38 [Hollow square diversion symbol] Derby; (A615) Matlock.
Forward destinations: The SOUTH, Nottingham [Hollow circle diversion symbol] M1.
Junction number: 28.
The A38 is the UK's second longest numbered road, after the A1. Its rather improbable course takes it from Bodmin in Cornwall through Plymouth, Exeter, Birmingham and Derby to cross our path here and eventually end up in Mansfield. Nobody has ever adequately explained why the UK requires a direct highway from Bodmin to Mansfield.