Leicester City Council defends Fosse Road North layout

The city council put up this image of the new design to announce completion of the work

Changes to a major road in Leicester have been defended by the city council after widespread criticism.

Fosse Road North is opening after weeks of work that saw it get a two-way cycle lane and central bus lane.

A council social media post received hundreds of comments, including "what a mess" and "take a perfectly usable road and create chaos".

The council said it was surprised by the reaction and that the new layout would make bus journeys more efficient.

The council said changes to road layouts often took a short while for people to get used to

The changes are part of the scheme to improve the area around Five Ways Junction.

Other reactions include "Is it a magic eye picture? If you stare long enough can you see where you're supposed to be going?", "Looks very confusing to me!" and "Looks like an accident waiting to happen".

City highways director Martin Fletcher said the area had been a pinch point for buses and the design complied with all Department for Transport specifications for lane width.

"The thousands of bus users who use that route every week they are going to see a much-needed benefit in terms of waits," he said.

"In real terms it isn't much of a change in terms of traffic flow. The two-way flow is still there; it is still as it was.

"We have just repurposed some of the road space and widened the footpath and roadway to give us that extra width for the bus bypass lane to get to the junction quicker."