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Thursday 11 Sep 2014

Narborough Road Bridge improvements

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Narborough Road bridge is getting a facelift. Network Rail engineers are cleaning and painting the bridge, which crosses the A5460 Narborough Road in Leicester between its junctions with Ivy Road and Winchester Avenue.

Work starts on Monday 22 September and in order to complete the work safely, restrictions to access have been agreed with Leicester City Council highways department.

The footpath will be closed and diversions will be in place for pedestrians from 27 September to 30 November 2014.

For the duration of the work, parking bays under the bridge will be suspended and the two lanes of traffic inbound (towards the city centre) will be reduced to one. Motorists are advised to allow extra time for their journeys and use alternative routes where possible.

There will be overnight lane closures and two-way temporary traffic lights at weekends between 11 October and 30 November. This traffic management will be in place from 22.00 on the Saturday to 06.00 on the Sunday.

There are also two full road closures

• 21.00 Saturday 4 October to 0500 Monday 6 October
• 21.00 Saturday 15 November to 06.00 Sunday 16 November

A Network Rail spokesman said: “We thank residents for their patience while we undertake these essential works to protect and improve Narborough Road bridge.

“We are aware that there are significant sporting events during the times that we have road closures and have worked with the highways team to defer the start of our work in order to minimise the effect on fans travelling around the city.

“We will complete this work as quickly and efficiently as possible and leave Leicester with a visually improved bridge which will not require any further painting work for 25 years”

To prepare for the works, Network Rail and Leicester City Council ran a competition in conjunction with De Montfort University.

Kieran Scott-Everett, a second-year student at De Montfort University, beat more than 40 entries to be named the winner of the Going Off Track competition.

Kieran developed a design for a mural which will be painted onto the bridge. It features legs and shoes, and was inspired by Leicester’s historic links with hosiery and shoemaking.

Cllr Andy Connelly, one of the ward councillors for Westcotes, said: “I’m pleased we’ve been able to work with Network Rail and DMU on this project. The mural will be painted on while these essential works are undertaken, which will minimise disruption for road users while allowing us to create a unique piece of artwork that will give a real sense of identity to the West End area.”

The £340,000 works are being funded by Network Rail with a £78,000 contribution from the city council through its Retail Gateway Improvement Scheme.