Blaby District Council will be submitting a bid for millions of pounds in government funding for three exciting transport projects in the district.
Wanting to take advantage of the Government’s Levelling Up Fund to realise Blaby District’s potential by accelerating growth, the Council is keen to secure funding and improve key road and cycle networks in the district.
Featuring highway improvements and new cycle and walking provisions, the Levelling up Fund package will improve accessibility across the key commuting, employment, and retail corridor of Junction 21 of the M1, Narborough Railway Station, Fosse Park and Everards Meadows.
The bid will be submitted by Blaby District Council in close liaison with Leicestershire County Council as the highway authority in the area. At Full Council on 19 July, Councillors voted to support the submission of a bid for funding.
Scheme one would create a new lane from the M1, Junction 21 southbound slip road, heading towards the A563 roundabout. The current layout is a pinch point for traffic which needs to join and quickly leave existing lanes. The new lane will give road users an easier passage to this roundabout.
This scheme will ensure increased capacity on the network, reducing the need to change lanes and ease congestion as well as improving safety in a key area of the district that experiences very high traffic at peak times.
The second scheme currently being assessed is in Whetstone, which would see a new, safe footpath introduced on Warwick Road, between the Co-op supermarket and Blaby and Whetstone Boys Club. This footpath would join with the footpath already in place at The Dicken junction.
Work is also planned between the railway station and Fosse Park under a third scheme to bring new cycle infrastructure from Narborough through to the popular Everards Meadows and Fosse Park. This new infrastructure will ensure that people can safely cycle from a key transport hub in the district to popular tourist and shopping destinations as well as into Leicester City Centre.
The bid will be decided by Government Ministers after assessing other bids across the country. No set timescale has been announced and Blaby District Council will announce the result of the bid in the coming weeks.
© The Journal 2023