FAQ 1. Main benefits
FAQ 1. Main benefits
What are the main benefits of the scheme?
What LCC says:
By providing a link between Aylestone Road and Welford Road, the scheme will help to relieve congestion on the southern central ring road network, particularly the route around the Leicester Tigers Football Club ground / former Granby halls site and the approaches from Welford Road, Aylestone Road and Upperton Road.
This is a critical part of the city’s highway network, providing access to both the city centre and wider destinations. The reduction in congestion will overall improve vehicle travel times and air quality.
It will support economic growth by improving access for the businesses in the Freemen’s Common Industrial Estate. Access will also be improved to future development in the area, particularly at the University of Leicester.
Cycling and pedestrian facilities will be improved across the area, making it a more attractive route for users of sustainable transport.
What we say:
The claimed benefits of this scheme are
exaggerated
and they are unsupported by the council’s own evidence about it. Other answers to the FAQs will explain this in greater detail. In looking at the claimed benefits above the first thing we say is that it is a good idea to look at a map to see the existing road network!
Currently traffic between Aylestone Road/Saffron Lane and Welford Road, which is the new link this road creates, uses Counting House Road in one direction and Almond Road in the other. It does not go near Leicester Tigers ground, the former Granby Halls site, or Upperton Road. Neither does it go near Walnut Street. The only road likely to see any reduction in congestion is Almond Road. But this is not a critical congestion point on the southern inner ring road. The only scope for improved vehicle travel times is the journey from the proposed junction at Aylestone Road/Saffron Lane to the existing junction at Welford Road/Victoria Park Road. This link provides no improvement for any other route. If there will be any improvement in air quality it will be in Almond Road only , elsewhere air quality will decline because of increased traffic.
There is unlikely to be any effect on economic growth. Access to the industrial estate is not greatly improved, and the university of Leicester development is largely student accommodation.
There will be little improvement in cycling and pedestrian facilities due to this scheme. Putney Road will not have continuous pedestrian facilities on both sides, nor will it have a separate dedicated cycleway along the whole length – part of it will be a painted line on a much busier road. The council does not have the land on which to create these. Any changes at the Welford Road junction are part of the university scheme and were unknown by the council at the time this link road was announced – and it was made clear to us that they were also not part of the consultation because they were not part of the Putney Road scheme. The fact that Putney Road will be much busier, more congested, and more polluted, will make this route less attractive to cyclists and walkers.
