ROADS near the site of building which was destroyed by fire earlier this month are being closed temporarily over the coming days while demolition work continues.
Contractors are dismantling the remains of the former Krystals night club, on the corner of Gravel Street and Church Gate, which was gutted by fire on October 4.
The demolition work is being carried out by contractors working with the site’s owner. The city council is putting in a series of brief road closures to ensure the work can be done safely.
The footpath on Vaughan Way next to the site is closed until Wednesday, October 19, with pedestrians instead using the St Margaret’s Underpass.
There will also be an overnight road closure affecting Church Gate, Gravel Street and New Road, from 11.45pm on Wednesday, October 19, until 4am the following morning to enable demolition work to take place. Parking restrictions will also be in place in Church Gate during that period.
Then, from Monday, October 24, until Friday, October 28, New Road will be closed to traffic, buses will be diverted and the loading bay will not be available for parking.
Church Gate, Gravel Street and New Road will close to all traffic for two days, starting at 6.30am on Wednesday, October 26, again with bus diversions and parking restrictions in place.
St Margaret's Bus Station will remain open as normal, though there will be some changes to bus services, including:
The Skylink will move to bay SZ on October 19 for the three hours when New Road is closed, and also from October 24 to 29.
Arriva services will also move from October 24 to 29, as follows:
* 84, 85, X84 will move to stand CA on Charles Street.
* 126/7 will move to stand BF on Belgrave Gate.
* X6 will move to stand CJ.
* 152/3 will still run from St Margaret’s Bus Station but will not serve Causeway Lane.
Vectare’s Novus Direct service will move to stand CA on Charles Street during the same period.
Signs are in place on the affected stops telling passengers of the temporary changes.
Director of City Highways and Leicester City Council, Martin Fletcher, said: “Unfortunately the scale of the demolition work being carried out at the old Krystals nightclub site means we have to bring in these temporary road closures to protect the public.
“We are working with the demolition firm to try to ensure they keep the disruption to a minimum, but this still involves some night working and some unavoidable road closures.
“The demolition also affects the routes to and from St Margaret’s Bus Station, meaning that a number of services will be diverted or will use different stops while these road closures are in place. Again we’ve worked with the bus companies to ensure that people are aware if their buses are affected, with clear signposts on the affected stops and information on buses.”
Details of all traffic and travel are available from Area Traffic Control on Twitter via @ATCLeicester
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