Supercrossing plan to help King Power crowd
PART OF £2.9M PACKAGE OF WORK FOR ROAD LINK
“SUPERCROSSING” is planned to help large numbers of football fans get to Leicester City’s King Power Stadium on match days.
The proposal would see the junction of Aylestone Road and Putney Road remodelled to make it easier for people on foot or bikes to get around the area.
It is part of a £2.9 million package of proposed pedestrian and cycling improvements which will go alongside a £5 million plan to open Putney Road to through traffic between Aylestone Road and Welford Road.
Segregated cycling routes are now proposed to the new University of Leicester Freemen’s Common campus, in Welford Road.
A toucan cycle and pedestrian crossing will be provided at Commercial Square, in Freemen’s Common.
Deputy mayor for environment and transportation Councillor Adam Clarke said: “The opportunity to include in this scheme a range of sustainable transport links makes sense and carrying out the work at the same time as the main project means we won’t need to cause further disruption by revisiting it in future.
“We envisage this junction will become a major connectivity point in the light of new and proposed developments, such as the proposed expansion of the football stadium and the University of Leicester’s Freemen’s Common campus.
“The scheme also ties in with proposed cycleway connections to communities served by Saffron Lane, making high-quality infrastructure at Putney Road a must.
“These latest additions complement the original scheme and help to better connect the new road lay out with other developments through a network of better cycling and walking links.
“This additional dimension to the project will be funded by existing city council budgets, fed by Department for Transport funding for this sort of work.”
Contractor Balfour Beatty is due to begin construction next month and work is expected to continue until next summer. The plan to open up Putney Road, currently closed off at the Aylestone Road end, to through traffic has been unpopular with people living in Victoria Park Road, who fear it will hugely increase the volume of traffic passing their homes.
The city council however believes it will prevent current rat-running through Clarendon Park’s residential streets.