WORK to create a safer and more direct cycle between Leicester’s Clarendon Park area and the city centre is now complete.
The new two-way cycle track – which was designed and constructed by Leicester City Council – provides a continuous route from Queens Road junction onto a new cycle path across Victoria Park, along the full length of Lancaster Road and through Nelson Mandela Park. The 1.3km route then links with the recently completely completed cycle track on Welford Road, providing a direct link for cyclists to and from the city centre.
Major improvements have also been made to the existing crossing over Tigers Way, linking Lancaster Road to Nelson Mandela Park. This now provides a parallel crossing for pedestrians and cyclists, the first of its kind in the city.
The scheme has been supported by £950,000 of Government cash from the Transforming Cities Fund, as part of a major city council programme of sustainable transport improvements aimed at providing attractive choices for people to get to work.
Deputy City Mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transportation, said: “The completion of these major improvements on Lancaster Road marks another step forward for our ambitious plans to encourage more people to discover the benefits of walking and cycling in and around the city.
“We want to provide attractive choices for people to get to work, supporting the city’s economic growth and delivering on the council’s climate emergency, air quality and healthy living commitments.
“What we’ve created here is a really attractive, leafy route across a fantastic park that provides a safe and direct route between Clarendon Park and the city centre, and a fantastic link to the University of Leicester.
“As well as being an important part of the Leicester Covid-19 Transport Recovery Plan, this new route perfectly complements the cycling improvements recently made on London Road, and means that there really is no longer any reason for cyclists to use the historic pedestrian-only route along New Walk.”
The Leicester Covid-19 Transport Recovery Plan which was published at the start of June, sets out how the city’s transport system can best meet the challenges presented by the coronavirus pandemic and help the city’s economy to recover, as well as securing longer-term environmental benefits.
The plan included a commitment by City Mayor Peter Soulsby to create a mile every week of new cycling and walking routes, both by using pop-up temporary routes or bringing forward the completion date for longer-term, permanent infrastructure projects from the ongoing Connecting Leicester works.
Over ten weeks, around 11 miles of pop-up cycle routes have been installed in London Road, Aylestone Road, Saffron Lane, Hinckley Road, Beaumont Leys Lane and Abbey Park Road, along with works to widen the pavements at Belgrave’s Golden Mile, Braunstone Gate, Green Lane Road, Granby Street and Queens Road.
A new map showing the extent of Leicester’s pop-up cycle track network in the style of the classic London Underground map is available from the Town Hall Bike Park, or can be downloaded from www.choosehowyoumove.co.uk/pop-up