£150,000 worth of works have been undertaken in an area of Leicester’s Narborough Road, to make it a “more pleasant, attractive and safer” space.
The improvements, near to Westcotes Library, are the latest phase of works to take place on the road, which has seen “significant” investment in recent years.
In total, more than £630,000 has been invested in sprucing up public areas of Narborough Road for local businesses and residents, including around £150,000 in this latest phase.
As part of the works, sections of uneven pavement between the junctions of Ruding Road and Roman Street have been replaced on the outbound side of Narborough Road.
Previous stages of the work took place in 2020 and 2021, focusing on the area between Upperton Road and Braunstone Gate.
The maintenance work has been carried out in stages over the last two years and has included making pavements more pedestrian-friendly by installing new bollards and cycle racks to prevent pavement parking, as well as replacing broken or loose slabs and tackling drainage problems.
“This rolling programme of repairs has hugely improved Narborough Road for local businesses and residents, by replacing broken or uneven paving, damaged street furniture and fixing drainage problems,” said Westcotes ward councillor Sarah Russell, who also serves as Leicester Deputy City Mayor.
“The addition of bollards and bicycle racks also deters inconsiderate pavement parking, which is partly to blame for causing some of the damage we are now repairing.
“It has been a significant investment, which we hope will benefit local businesses by making this busy shopping area more pleasant, attractive and safer for everyone.”
The work is being funded through Leicester City Council’s highway maintenance capital fund.
Work is also ongoing at nearby Braunstone Gate as part of a larger £1.5m redevelopment scheme financed by the Government’s Transforming Cities Fund (TCF) to install safer walking and cycling infrastructure, creating wider pavement areas for visitors to the shops, cafes and bars in the area and reducing the amount of unnecessary traffic.
