IMPROVEMENTS are planned for Leicester’s busy Anstey Lane as part a major Government-backed programme of investment in sustainable transport across the city.
Leicester City Council is planning to invest almost £1million to improve part of Anstey Lane, and the adjoining Buckminster Road, to help encourage more people to make the shift to walking, cycling and public transport.
The work will be paid for through the Transforming Cities Fund following the city council’s successful bid for £32million to help fund improvements to local public transport and support more cycling and walking routes into city neighbourhoods and the city centre.
As part of the proposed scheme for Anstey Lane, the council is planning to introduce a new bus lane on the citybound section of the road, between its junctions with Buckminster Road and Larchmont Road. This will help to improve bus journey times on this route by giving buses priority on this short stretch of road.
The existing footway between Buckminster Road and the mini-roundabout at Avebury Avenue will be widened to up to three metres to create a new shared footway/cycleway, linking to the existing cycling provision starting at English Martyrs School.
A second stretch of shared footway/cycleway will also be created between Great Meadow Road and Darenth Drive, linking with existing cycleway provision up to Krefeld Way.
Raised tables and new zebra crossings will be installed to provide a safer route for pedestrians and cyclists.
An experimental closure of Buckminster Road between Brading Road and Anstey Lane is also proposed. This will prevent the road being used as a rat run at busy times, and help to create a quieter and more attractive road for residents while improving safety for cyclists and pedestrians. The closure will allow a test of the new road layout and people will be invited to comment during the first sixth months of the experiment.
All proposals are currently subject to feedback from residents, and around 1,000 homes in the area have been sent a letter setting out the plans and inviting comments.
Deputy City Mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on transportation and environment, said: “Our ambitious Transforming Cities Fund programme represents a big step forward for Leicester. It will provide attractive, sustainable travel choices for people, helping to deliver a greener solution for the future growth of our city and its economy and supporting our work around the climate emergency and air quality improvements.
“The plans for Anstey Lane are just one part of a much bigger programme but show how this new investment is helping us to extend the multi-million investment we have already made in and around the city centre out into local neighbourhoods.
“It will improve bus journey times by removing a pinch point that is affecting the reliability of local services. It will also make roads safer, encouraging more people to make healthy choices through cycling and walking and support the increasing number of people who are already choosing to travel this way.”
If given the go-ahead, work is due to begin on a phased basis in June 2021 and is expected to take around eight months to complete.
Leicester City Council is carrying out an ambitious £80million citywide programme of investment in sustainable transport, backed by £40million from the Department for Transport’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF). The package of work will focus on major sustainable transport improvements to provide attractive choices for people to get to work, education, local and other facilities supporting the city’s growth and deliver on the council’s climate emergency, air quality and healthy living commitments.
Match funding is being provided through the city council, Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership (LLEP), local bus operators and other partners.
Schemes include the development of new bus priority corridors linking the city centre to city neighbourhoods and suburbs, and the continued development of a network of high-quality cycling and walking routes throughout the city building on the success of Connecting Leicester. It will also see the introduction of electric buses onto the Park and Ride Services and a new electric bike hire scheme in partnership with Santander.
To view the plans for Anstey Lane in more detail, visit the ongoing projects page at www.leicester.gov.uk/connectingleicester
The Anstey Lane project forms part of the Green Growth Corridors Transport Programme. This is supported by a £4m grant from the Pooled Business Rates, a pot of surplus funding managed by the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership Limited (LLEP) for projects that invest in economic development priorities across Leicester and Leicestershire.