Information on Loughborough

Congestion-busting Enderby work complete

Posted on 29/05/2009

Leicestershire Councty Council Highways, Transportation & Waste Management

27 May 2009

Congestion-busting Enderby work complete - photo opportunity -

Work to bring in congestion-busting measures in Enderby are now complete.

The £1million Foxhunter roundabout project has been finished on time and within budget.

The changes to the roundabout – at the junction of the B4114 with the B582 –will improve safety and cut traffic queues at the hot-spot. Benefits include:

• new ‘toucan’ (pedestrian and cycle) crossings on Blaby Road and St Johns

• revamp of  the existing pedestrian crossings on Blaby Road and Leicester Road near the roundabout

• extra traffic lanes to boost vehicle capacity

• new traffic signals - controlled by a dynamic 'SCOOT' system - to help reduce queues and allow time for pedestrians and cyclists to cross

• reducing the likelihood of ‘rat run’ traffic using adjacent residential roads to avoid queuing at the roundabout.

The work has been completed by the County Council in partnership with contractor Tarmac. It forms part of the County Council’s £12 million of improvements in the area, specifically targeting busy routes close to Junction 21 of the M1.

Others recently completed include improvements to the Whetstone Transfer Station access junction on the B582 Blaby Road.

The next element - construction of a new park and ride site at Enderby - started last month. This is expected to be complete later in the year.

Matthew Lugg, the County Council's Director of Highways, Transportation and Waste Management, said: “This junction improvement will provide significant benefits to local residents and be a tremendous boost to the thousands of drivers who use this busy route every day.

"Whilst we minimised disruption as much as possible, some delays were inevitable and I'd like to thank road-users and residents for their patience during this work."

Harvey Cullen, Tarmac’s Contract Manager for Leicestershire, said: “Tarmac is delighted to have completed this scheme with the County Council. The Foxhunter roundabout work is key to improving traffic flow at this busy site. We are also working with the council at the park and ride site, where work is progressing well.”

Residents can keep in touch with what’s happening on Leicestershire’s roads at www.leics.gov.uk/roadsandtransport .

Photo Opportunity:

Matthew Lugg and Harvey Cullen will visit the Foxhunter roundabout at 2pm on Thursday, 28 May to see the new road layouts and traffic signals.

The postcode is LE19 2BJ.

Notes:

1. ‘SCOOT’ (Split Cycle Offset Optimisation Technique) allows signal timings to be adapted based on traffic flows.

2. Tarmac was appointed under a contract accessible to all members of the Midlands Highway Alliance (MHA), an innovative partnership between 10 local authorities and the Highways Agency.

The MHA aims to improve performance and make savings by working together on the delivery of highway services. It is the first alliance of its kind in the UK.