Granby Street Gateway

The Granby Street gateway scheme is part of the Prospect Leicestershire masterplan to create a safer and more sustainable transport link between the railway station and the city centre.   

The first stage of the scheme spans Granby Street between the ring road and Northampton Street. It included filling in of the subway and the creation of a 10 metre wide 'supercrossing' across the A594 ring road catering for pedestrians and cyclists.

The scheme provides facilities which encourage people to the city centre via this new supercrossing. This phase of the scheme also included narrowing of the ring road carriageways from three to two traffic lanes to include cycle lanes in both directions; narrowing of Granby Street to improve pedestrian and cyclist facilities, tree planting to create a pleasant and welcoming gateway effect; improved lighting and CCTV facilities; and improved loading and parking facilities. These works were substantially completed at the end of 2010. 

The cycle link phase

The next phase of the scheme will improve the remaining section of Granby Street, between Northampton Street and Rutland Street. This phase will be known as the ‘Granby Street Cycle Link’ scheme and will be substantially funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

The Council propose that the Granby Street Cycle Link scheme includes the following new improvements:

• Re-laid footways using high quality granite look composite blocks similar to those used on the already improved areas of Granby Street. The full length of Granby Street will then have the same high quality appearance.   

• A contra-flow cycle lane extended along the whole length Granby Street. This will allow cyclists to travel in either direction on Granby Street. Motorised traffic will still be restricted to one way flows as now.

• The existing pedestrian crossing stage on the north side of the Rutland Street signalised junction will be upgraded to a shared pedestrian and cycle crossing Toucan stage.

• The footways adjacent to this new Toucan crossing stage will include short areas of shared cycle and pedestrian use. These areas of footway are wide enough to accommodate cycles and pedestrians in harmony. The shared use areas will allow continued cycling between the cycle lanes and the crossing.

• Kerb level pedestrian crossing points at the entrance to junctions with Chatham, York and Dover Streets. This will ease the progress of pedestrians along the south-west side of Granby Street as well as increasing safety for more vulnerable pedestrians by slowing traffic entering or leaving Granby Street at these junctions.

Details of these proposals are shown on the drawing HT/N100256C/953 below.