Two improvement schemes are due to take place in the new year on Leicester’s Narborough Road and Braunstone Gate.
Leicester City Council is carrying out work as part of two ongoing projects designed to make both areas more pedestrian friendly, and in the case of Braunstone Gate, remodelling it as part of a “Mini Holland” scheme to installing safe walking and cycling infrastructure and reduce car access.
Maintenance work on Narborough Road has been carried out in stages over the last two years. The latest phase is due to start on January 8 and will take about 10 weeks.
It includes making pavements more pedestrian-friendly by installing new bollards and cycle racks to prevent pavement parking, as well as replacing broken or loose slabs and tackling drainage problems on a section of the outbound side of Narborough Road between its junctions with Ruding Road and Roman Street.
It will mean some temporary disruption to parking and waiting in the area while works are taking place.
Work will also continue at Braunstone Gate as part of a larger £1.5m redevelopment scheme financed by the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF).
The latest phase, will begins on January 23, will focus on the junction of Braunstone Gate and Narborough Road and will include removing the existing left-turn lane from Braunstone Gate onto Narborough Road, resurfacing and creating a new footway.
The existing pavement will be re-laid with new high-quality block paving, while three trees whose roots are damaging the footway will be removed and replaced. A bus stop at the southern end of Braunstone Gate will also be moved onto Narborough Road.
Letters are being sent to residents in both the areas concerned, ahead of the work taking place.
Leicester Deputy City Mayor for transport, clean air and climate emergency, Cllr Adam Clarke, said: “These works both in Braunstone Gate and Narborough Road aim to improve facilities for pedestrians and cyclists and make it easier to access these shops, bars and other local businesses safely.
“Some of the work is straightforward repairs and improvements to pavements and street furniture such as cycle racks and bollards, whereas in Braunstone Gate we are working on the latest phase of a more comprehensive redesign to transform the street for the better.”
The redevelopment work at Braunstone Gate began in May 2022, to help create a more people-friendly place and give more priority to cycles and pedestrians by limiting vehicle access, closing the road to unnecessary traffic at busy times and creating wider pavement areas for visitors to the shops, cafes and bars in the area.
New, wider footpaths have been created and a section of the street has been repaved in high-quality block paving. A new red asphalt road surface and tree planting also form part of the scheme.
Access to Braunstone Gate from Duns Lane and New Park Street is now restricted to buses, taxis and cycles only, and the left turn from Western Boulevard has been closed to traffic, except cycles.
Most on-street parking on Braunstone Gate has been removed, with the extra space used to create wider pavements. Businesses will be able to apply for street café licences and outside seating areas.
Disabled parking bays will be retained and additional pay-and-display parking spaces will be included on neighbouring Bede Street and Western Road.