A MAJOR scheme to improve Leicester’s Rally Park and create safer, more accessible routes for people walking, wheeling and cycling is set to enter a new phase next month.
Leicester City Council has secured an additional £1.2 million from the Government’s Active Travel Fund, which will support the rollout of an ongoing improvement programme at Rally Park
The investment will help to deliver more accessible entrances to the park and safer routes linking surrounding neighbourhoods, schools and the riverside development area to support the city’s commitment to active travel and sustainable transport.
Work will restart on Monday 6 April with improvements at the southern entrance of Rally Park from Tudor Road. A new zebra crossing will extend walking and cycling routes to Hinckley Road, improve drainage and help to manage anti-social pavement parking.
Lane restrictions and temporary traffic signals will be in place on Tudor Road during the roadworks. A full road closure will be required over the weekend of 16 and 17 May for final resurfacing works.
Other works will see new footpaths extended from the children’s play area to the park entrance at Fosse Road North, where existing barriers will be replaced by bollards to improve access.
A new community garden will also be created on a currently underused paved area.
Work is expected to be complete by late summer.
Cllr Geoff Whittle, assistant city mayor for environment and transport, said: “This new investment from the Government’s Consolidated Active Travel Fund will allow us to extend ambitious improvements already made at Rally Park.
“We’re aiming to create safer and more attractive routes at the heart of this thriving neighbourhood, linking Newfoundpool, Frog Island and the new Waterside development for people to walk, wheel or cycle along.
“It’s an important scheme that will help more people make active travel their preferred choice for everyday trips to school, the shops and onto the city centre.”
Since summer 2024, a huge amount of work has been carried out at Rally Park to create wider walking routes and safe, segregated cycle tracks on existing routes, some of which were previously muddy paths.
Access to the park for those going to and from Castle Mead Academy has been improved, and new sealed-surface paths have been installed to replace the well-used but muddy routes surrounding the school. Seating and landscaping has also been improved, and new trees planted, to enhance the route between Tudor Road and the school.
Improvements have been made to the park’s entrances at Tudor Road/Paget Street, Bonchurch Street, and Richard III Road. New lighting columns have been installed, overgrown vegetation has been removed to improve visibility, and new seating has been installed.
The area next to the park’s historic train platform – which dates back to the creation of West Bridge Station in 1840 – has also been upgraded with new paving.