A NEW road safety scheme is to be brought in to reduce traffic speeds and cut the risk of accidents on a busy section of Leicester’s outer ring road.
Leicester City Council is bringing in the measures on a section of Hungarton Boulevard, with work beginning this weekend.
It follows work with local residents who had raised concerns about road safety, after an accident in 2021 in which a car left the road and collided with a house, causing serious injuries to the householder.
City Mayor Peter Soulsby and deputy mayor with responsibility for roads, Cllr Adam Clarke, met with residents who had put forward a petition calling for a rethink on the layout and design of the road to cut the accident risk.
The road carries around 12,500 vehicles each day, and while traffic surveys show that most drivers stay within the 30mph speed limit during the day, traffic at night sometimes reached speeds of up to 38mph.
The work will involve changing and renewing the road markings, prohibiting overtaking, installing electronic speed limit signs, hatched safety zones and lengthening pedestrian crossing times, as well as resurfacing the road as part of maintenance work.
Work starts on Saturday, August 19, for a period of seven days. In order to carry out the works safely the road will be closed to all through traffic, with a local diversion put in place.
“No waiting” cones and bollards will be put in place to prevent vehicles from parking on the main road during the work.
Traffic marshals will be controlling the junction areas to help pedestrians to cross the road and allow access to residents.
Leicester Deputy City Mayor for climate, economy and culture, Cllr Adam Clarke, said: “A lot of work has been done to see how we can address residents’ concerns and make this section of road safer for all users.
“That has included residents submitting a petition calling for improvements, following a horrific accident in 2021. No other vehicles were involved in that accident, but there have been several similar accidents on that section of road, all caused by poor driving or lack of judgement.
“The layout of the road means we are restricted in what we can do to in terms of bollards or crash barriers. It is also a main route for emergency vehicles, so speed humps and other traffic calming measures would be unsuitable.
“But we’ve looked at where better signage, clearer lane marking and other changes to the road itself could help to slow traffic down as it comes through what is a busy residential area.
“Hearing directly from residents about their concerns has enabled us to make improvements which focus on those issues as best we can. We are also continuing to look at options to improve the street scene to complement the safety improvements, where funding permits.”
Letters have been sent out in advance to residents letting them know about the work.
In all, the road safety works will cost around £190,000 funded by the city council’s Transport Improvement Works and Highways Maintenance budgets.
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