Leicester City Council is due to begin work next week, to improve pedestrian and cycling routes around Leicester’s St Nicholas Circle.
The £1.7milllion scheme is part of the Connecting Leicester programme and it is hoped it will improve the links between the city centre and important attractions such as St Mary De Castro Church, Castle Gardens and the ancient Roman Jewry Wall.
The work starts from Monday 19 January and will remodel the road layout along the south side of St Nicholas Circle, by Castle Gardens.
Leicester City Mayor Sir Peter Soulsby said, “This is a major scheme which will have huge benefits for the city. We have important attractions cut off from the city centre by the 1960s ring road and we want to reverse that.
“By giving back some of the road space to cyclists and walkers, and creating more attractive and safer routes, we can restore the lost links from the city centre to this fascinating and historical part of the city, and give this rather rundown area a much needed revamp.
“Some disruption to traffic is inevitable while we carry out these improvements, but officers have taken steps to ensure that this will have minimal impact in the busy morning and evening periods.”
The second phase of work will involve replacing one lane of traffic along the south side of St Nicholas Circle, between Southgates slip road and Westbridge and creating wider footpaths and new cycle lanes, as well as the removal of a bus stand.
Lane restrictions will be in place during off-peak hours (9.30am to 3.30pm), from Monday to Friday, to provide a safer working environment. Drivers are advised to expect delays during these times.
A final phase of work, which is due to begin in July, will revamp the north side of St Nicholas Circle and see the removal of the Harvey Walk footbridge, which spans the roundabout. The council intends to replace this with a ground-level footway between the Holiday Inn and the NCP car park.
