M1 junction upgrade work to cost£27m

MOTORISTS can expect to face months of misery when roadworks are planned for a section of Leicestershire’s biggest motorway.

A multi-million pound project is designed to increase capacity and ease congestion from junction 23 of the M1 to Shepshed.

Roads bosses have pledged £27 million to upgrade the A512/ Ashby Road, stretching from Shepshed to Loughborough while crossing the M1.

The changes will pave the way for the creation of thousands of new jobs as well as a huge housing development.

The government has committed £12 million of funding for work with the rest coming from potential contributors such as Highways England, through its Growth and Housing Fund, and developers.

Leicestershire County Council leader Councillor Nick Rushton said: “We welcome this significant investment which will enable considerable improvements to be made to the road network on and around junction 23 of the M1 at Loughborough.

“This should help reap huge economic benefits for the area. It means we can ensure there is the necessary infrastructure to support the building of 4,000 homes and potentially provide access to more than 5,700 jobs, including those created through the Loughborough and Leicester Enterprise Zone.”

A Charnwood Borough Council spokesman said the road improvements will be essential in servicing 1,250 new homes already permitted in Shepshed together with the 3,000 homes in west Loughborough’s “Sustainable Urban Extension”.

The scheme, at Garendon Park, between Loughborough and Shepshed, will also see more than 1,300 jobs created.

The Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership, bid for the Government cash to pay for the roadworks as part of the latest allocation of the Local Growth Fund.

A spokeswoman said the work would unlock significant land for new homes and employment, supporting the new Enterprise Zone sites at the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park, off the Ashby Road, and Charnwood Campus on the other side of town.

The roadworks are expected to begin in around two years time and take around two years to complete. They will include: Improvements to the exit from M1 J23 towards Shepshed;

Widening of the A512 between M1 J23 and the waste transfer site;

Improvements to the A512 Leicester Road and Road junction;

Improvements to the A512 towards Loughborough and new junction to access to west of development.

Last month the Government gave the green light for a new Enterprise Zone to create 21,000 jobs and generate £123 million for business in Leicester and Loughborough over the next 25 years.

The 400 acres of office and industrial land is made up of the Loughborough University Science and Enterprise Park; the £200 million Charnwood Campus – the huge former AstraZeneca laboratory complex in Loughborough – and the new Leicester Waterside scheme.

The Loughborough University site, off the A512, specialises in advanced engineering and manufacturing, energy and low carbon technology. Ingleberry