Campaigners have highlighted Leicestershire's 60 towns and villages they want to put on alert over the proposed A46 Expressway.
The controversial proposal would, if it goes ahead, completely transform a swathe of eastern and southern part of the county as a by-pass for the city.
The Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) and the South and East Leicestershire Action Group have invited residents of areas they believe will be directly or indirectly affected by the huge scheme to attend a meeting about it next month.
They are concerned it will destroy the rural nature of a large part of the county and harm the environment.
The proposed road underpins a long-term strategy to find space in Leicestershire to build more than 180,000 homes by 2051 and would see a motorway-grade route sweep round the east and south of Leicester.
The expressway is proposed by Leicester City Council, Leicestershire County Council and the seven district authorities in a Strategic Growth Plan (SGP) designed to plan future population growth in the city and the county.
The SGP says the road would create a corridor where some 38,000 new homes and large amounts of industrial and commercial development could be built.
Its authors say there is no exact route but it will start at the Hobby Horse roundabout at Syston before arcing round the city and joining the M1 between Junctions 20 and 21 and then continuing to the M69 at Hinckley.
What you need to know about the A46 Expressway
The CPRE has set up a task group to look in detail at the proposals.
Its chairman Tony Stott said: “This is not a theoretical plan.
“There are already proposals being formulated for a huge “garden village” and logistics site between Countesthorpe, Cosby and Willoughby Waterleys and a new J20A on the M1.”
He said he believed alternative approaches to the SGP had not been properly considered by the council.
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No cost has been pinned to the project so far but estimates have been put at £1 billion and the scheme would need Government backing and funding and would be a major piece of the national transport network linking the South West to the East Coast.
The campaigner’s event will take place at the Coplow Centre in Billesdon at 7pm on April 4.
The 60 towns and villages invited to the A46 Expressway event
Arnesby
Keyham
Ashby Magna
Kibworth Beauchamp
Ashby Parva
Kibworth Harcourt
Barkby Kilby
Barkby Thorpe
Kings Norton
Beeby
Leire
Billesdon
Little Stretton
Bitteswell
Lowesby and Cold Newton
Broughton Astley
Lutterworth
Bruntingthorpe
Misterton
Burton Overy
Peatling Magna
Carlton Curlieu
Peatling Parva
Cosby
Queniborough
Cossington
Rearsby
Countesthorpe
Sapcote
Croft Scraptoft
Dunton Basset
Shearsby
East Goscote
Somerby
Elmsthorpe
South Croxton
Fleckney
Stoney Stanton
Frisby
Stoughton
Frolesworth
Syston
Gaddesby
Thurmaston
Gaulby
Thurnby
Gilmorton
Twyford and Thorpe Satchville
Glen Parva
Whetstone
Glenfield
Willoughby Waterleys
Great Glen
Wistow cum Newton Harcourt
Houghton on the Hill
Huncote
Hungarton
Illston on the Hill
Advocates of the road say it is the only way to effectively manage future growth.
They say it would relieve current congestion on M1 and A46 north west of Leicester.
A study by by Midlands Connect - a group of councils and business leaders working with the Department of Transport - says the new road would boost Leicester’s economy to the tune of at least £27.4 million a year by 2041.
The equivalent estimate for Harborough is £13.3 million, £12.3 million for Blaby, £8.5 million for Charnwood and £5.5 million for Hinckley and Bosworth.
