Thousands of visitors are expected in the city and county on Sunday to watch the final journey of King Richard III.
An influx of spectators and well-wishers are expected to line the route, which includes the A47 Hinckley Road, Bow Bridge, St Nicholas Church, and a short tour of the city centre before the coffin is handed over to the cathedral.
The cortege itself will bring King Richard’s coffin from the place of his death at Bosworth battlefield – now known to be at Fenn Lane Farm near Stoke Golding – to the city, via number of significant sites in the county along the route.
A number of rolling road closures will be needed along the route as the procession passes, meaning some traffic disruption is inevitable. The road closures in the county rote are as follows:
08.00 Market Place and Bosworth Lane in Market Bosworth closed. The diversion route via Carlton will be signed and traffic lights in place to control traffic over the bridge of the canal.
09.30 A one way system (clockwise direction) will be in effect, allowing Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre event ticket holders bus access to and from the site. The Green, Main Street and Hinckley Road in Dadlington (from the junction with Stoke Lane Road) closed.
12.30 Roads between the A444 and Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre, including all roads to the site itself (except for permitted visitors), Fenn Lane Farm, Dadlington and Sutton Cheney closed. Roads off the A447 at the Bull in the Oak crossroads and roads into Sutton Cheney and Cadeby closed (except for residents or people going to events).
15.00 Roads between Bosworth Battlefield Heritage Centre and the Bull in the Oak crossroads closed.
15.55 Roads to Desford from the A447 at the Bull in the Oak crossroads closed.
16.00 Roads from Bosworth Academy in Desford to Braunstone crossroads closed.
The cortege will enter Leicester via the A47, where it will stop briefly for a short ceremony at Bow Bridge at about 4.30pm.
It will visit St Nicholas Church – the oldest church in Leicester – before entering the city centre via High Street towards the Clock Tower, along Gallowtree Gate and into the Cultural Quarter.
It will then head to Leicester Cathedral via Greyfriars, arriving at approximately 5.45pm.
The best vantage points for people wanting to see the cortege are High Street, Gallowtree Gate or outside Curve Theatre. Big screens will show the procession live at the Clock Tower and Jubilee Square.
Motorists approaching from west Leicestershire should avoid using the A47 Hinckley Road, which will be subject to rolling road closures throughout the afternoon. Instead they should use either the A50 Groby Road or A5460 Narborough Road and Upperton Road.
There will also be some disruption to the access to multi-storey car parks at Newarke Street, Rutland Centre and St Nicholas. All other city centre car parks will open as normal.
Park and Ride services from Enderby and Birstall will be running throughout the day, operating from 10am to 8pm, with buses leaving every 15 minutes.
Some of the city centre stopping points will be different due to road closures on the day. The Meynell’s Gorse service will not be operating, because parts of its route will be closed due to the procession.
Footpaths and cycle paths in the city will remain open as normal during the procession, so many visitors may choose to use those to get into the city.
Free secure bicycle parking will be available both at the Bike Park in Town Hall Square, and at a temporary Ride Leicester bike park at Jubilee Square.
Event information is also available at: www.kingrichardinleicester.com
