3m-wide cycle lane planned for busy city route
£970K WORKS WOULD SEE NEW TRACK CUT ACROSS AYLESTONE RECREATION GROUND AND WIDENING OF ROAD FOOTPATHS
PLANS to introduce a permanent, three-metre-wide cycle lane in a busy Leicester road are being considered in a bid to encourage more people to travel “greener”.
Leicester City Council has outlined the proposal for Saffron Lane and, if it goes ahead, it will also see the footpaths along the stretch widened by two metres.
Saffron Lane is renowned for being congested and accidentheavy, with a recent serious crash earlier this month leading to two people being taken to hospital.
The council says the plan is in a bid to encourage sustainable travel in the city, such as walking and cycling, rather than driving.
The scheme would see a permanent cycle track, running in both directions, created on a stretch of the route between Heathcott Road and its new junction with Putney Road.
The track would cut across Aylestone Recreation Ground, where another cycle track would be created, alongside the existing treelined footpath through the park.
Footpaths along the route would be widened up to two metres wherever possible, said a spokesperson for the council, and re-laid in block paving.
Some modifications would be required to side roads where they join Saffron Lane to provide safer crossings for pedestrians and cyclists, the spokesperson added.
The scheme is part of a major, government-backed programme of investment in sustainable travel across the city. The council said it planned to invest more than £970,000 on improvements to Saffron Lane.
Deputy city mayor Councillor Adam Clarke, who leads on environment and transportation, said: “These proposals represent an important expansion of the city’s growing network of safe and attractive routes for cyclists and pedestrians. The plans for Saffron Lane will help us to further extend the multi-millionpound investment we have made in and around the city centre, out into the Leicester’s busy neighbourhoods. “It is vital that we continue to provide healthier, greener streets to accommodate future growth of the city and its economy, all of which supports our commitments to address the climate emergency and to reduce air pollution. “We need to be radical and ambitious to meet these challenges.”
If approved, the first phase of the planned scheme – between Putney Road and Hawkins Road and the route through Aylestone Recreation
Ground – would be funded through the Transforming Cities Fund, following the council’s bids for £40 million to help fund improvements to local public transport and support more cycling and walking routes into city neighbourhoods and the city centre.
The remaining sections are awaiting further government funding to be confirmed through the Active Travel Fund.
The proposals for Saffron Lane are being considered by members of the council’s Economic Development, Transport and Climate Emergency Scrutiny Commission.
If the plan is approved, work is expected to begin early in the new year.
The council says letters will be sent to resident and businesses close to the proposed schemes before any work begins.
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It is vital we continue to provide healthier, greener streets to accommodate future growth of the city Coun Clarke