A MAJOR programme of road surface improvement work is taking place in communities across Leicester this month.
Work totalling more than £800,000 will be taking place throughout March, ranging from small surface repairs work to larger resurfacing schemes. It follows a £450,000 programme of resurfacing and repairs across the city in February.
The work is part of the city council’s annual road maintenance programme to repair surfaces which have been damaged by heavy daily traffic use, winter weather and general wear and tear.
In Evington, three days of work will take place covering nearly 2,000 square metres of Church Road, from March 6 to 8, in a scheme costing £50,000.
On the same time, resurfacing work will start on a section of Saffron Lane, from Heathcott Road to Cyprus Road. The work will run from March 6 to 10, costing about £85,000.
£65,000 will be invested in improving the condition of Evington Lane Service Road. Work there runs from March 8 to 12 and will involve over 2,800 square metres of road surface.
A major resurfacing programme will be carried out on Coleman Road (from Broad Avenue to Green Lane Road), Broad Avenue (from Coleman Road to The Langhill) and also at The Langhill (from Coleman Road to Broad Avenue).
Costing around £120,000, the work will deal with over 5,000 square metres of road surface, and will take place between March 15 and 25.
In North Evington, 10 days’ worth of repair works will be carried out at Lunsford Road and part of Hastings Road, starting from March 8. That scheme costs about £100,000.
Resurfacing will also be carried out along Gipsy Lane, in the city’s Troon ward, between Victoria Road East and Huntingdon Road. Work starts on March 27, and continues for seven days, taking in almost 4,700 square metres of carriageway in a £120,000 scheme.
Halifax Drive, in Abbey Ward, will undergo resurfacing work between Hipwell Crescent and Canonsleigh Road, for three weeks, starting on March 22 and costing £74,000.
A range of smaller resurfacing jobs will also be carried out across the city’s Wycliffe ward between March 15 and 20. They include Polaris Close (£17,000), Cecil Road (£23,000) Hartington Road (£38,000) and Stoughton Street (£21,000).
In each case, the roads being resurfaced will be closed to traffic, with some parking restrictions and local diversions in place.
In the case of Coleman Road, motorists will face an outbound closure from March 15-18, swapping to an inbound closure from March 23-25.
Resurfacing work at London Road, which was postponed from earlier in the year due to foul weather and freezing conditions, will also take place from March 20, for four days.
It will focus on a section of London Road between Shirley Road and the county boundary in the city’s Knighton ward.
During the work, the city-bound section of London Road will be closed to all traffic with some parking restrictions in place on neighbouring side roads. Local diversions will be in place.
The four-day scheme, which is costing around £100,000, will involve surface repairs and patching work to around 3,345 square metres of road, including repairs to the damaged surface in the current bus lane.
Leicester assistant city mayor for neighbourhoods, Cllr Kirk Master, said: “All of these schemes are dealing with damaged road surfaces which are badly in need of repair, and which are often at their worst following months of winter weather.
“The city’s road network suffers a huge amount of wear and tear and this resurfacing work is necessary to keep that in check and ensure road surfaces are safe and in good condition for years to come.”
Details of all local traffic and travel are available from Area Traffic Control’s Twitter on @ATCLeicester
(Ends)