Three-month road closure for cycle lane work

The temporary cycle lane has been in place since 2020

A road on the edge of Leicester city centre is to be closed for about three months so a pop-up cycle lane can be made permanent.

Leicester City Council said it would start work on the £340,000 scheme on Mill Lane, near De Montfort University's campus, on Monday.

A temporary cycle lane segregated by plastic bollards was set up in 2020 but these will be replaced with raised kerbs.

The authority said a permanent lane would “provide a safe and protected route for cyclists” into the city centre.

'Safe and attractive'

The works will require parts of Mill Lane, between Western Boulevard and Grasmere Street, to be shut.

The council said diversions would be in place during the work, and that traffic marshals would be deployed to help drivers.

Mill Lane will see new traffic lights installed at its junction with Western Boulevard, and a crossing added near the junction with Eastern Boulevard.

Assistant city mayor for environment and transport Geoff Whittle said: “Making permanent routes like the existing pop-up cycle lane on Mill Lane is another important expansion of the city’s growing network of safe and attractive routes for walkers, wheelers and cyclists.

“It’s been really encouraging to see that the pop-up routes introduced to provide safe commuting routes for people during the first lockdown in 2020 have remained popular routes for walkers, wheelers and cyclists ever since.”

The scheme is being paid for with money from the government's Transforming Cities Fund.

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