TWO of Leicester’s busiest roads are set to benefit from major investment in repairs and resurfacing thanks to additional Government funding. The city council has been awarded an extra £830,000 from the Government’s Network North fund to be spent during 2023/24 and 2024/25.

Network North is an £8.3billion funding commitment by the Department for Transport, made possible by reallocated HS2 funding, that will boost highways maintenance across England over the next 11 years.

Leicester is scheduled to receive over £24m of Network North maintenance funding between now and 2033/34.

Initially, the additional £830,000 of local funding will be invested in resurfacing more than 25,000sqm of road surface on two of the city’s busiest arterial traffic routes and most important bus corridors – the A5460 Narborough Road and the A607 Melton Road.

On Narborough Road, the planned works will see the stretch of road between Winchester Avenue and Dumbleton Avenue fully resurfaced, to address cracking, rutting and general wear and tear.

Similar major maintenance will be carried out on Melton Road, between Loughborough Road and Marfitt Street, which will also be fully resurfaced.

The new funding is in addition to over £7m of Government grants already allocated to Leicester for highway maintenance and pothole repairs in 2023/24 and 24/25, which will support schemes on more than 60 roads.

Deputy city mayor Cllr Adam Clarke, who leads on climate, economy and culture, said: “It’s good that Leicester has been awarded additional funding for investment in road maintenance over the coming months, particularly given the wider funding challenges local government is currently facing.

“It means we can carry out major work to ensure two more key parts of the city’s road network are in the right condition to be used safely for many more years.