LAX_LHR, firstly it takes 20 minutes from J3 to DSA at quiet times, going the
speed limit - I do the journey several times per week.
Well I do not know where you are going wrong then. I also go the speed limit (with traffic lights and roundabouts not many places you could break it easily tbh), and one journey was timed at 14 minutes from turn off at J3 to the very last roundabout outside DSA.
When the new road is built, the journey it will about 8 minutes from J3 to
DSA
OK then, lets use your 20 minutes as a time bar, just for ease of argument and the sake of 6 minutes.
The journey time saving of 12 minutes from Sheffield. Im not aiming this at you personally, but, who are these masses of people that are suddenly going to say 'oh, DSA is 12 minutes closer? Why didn't you say? That makes all the difference!
12 minutes in the grand scheme of destination choice, check in time (2-3 hours before departure for some), price, airline choice etc.
Im just intrigued at where this link road is going to be the 'making' of DSA?
Still a small country lane to traverse for large lorries. Still the same number of buses to DSA. Still no coach links. Still no rail station.
I appreciate Rome wasn't built in a day, but I feel just a little too much hope has been placed on this link road, which, let me re-iterate again, isn't primarily for the benefit of DSA.