Loughborough: Ward's End to temporarily close later this month

The planned closure of Ward’s End and Devonshire Square will begin on July 19 and end on Friday, July 23.

The closure is part of the Bedford Square Gateway Project to make the town centre more attractive to visitors and to support local businesses.

The £2.6 million project will see footpaths widened and re-paved to create a high-quality and attractive street scene that will showcase the area’s distinct character and heritage. Character street lighting and furniture will also be added and more of the area will be on one level, making it more accessible.

A large open space in Devonshire Square will be created to host events and markets. The scheme also retains parking and maintains traffic flow in the area.

The road closure is necessary to allow new kerb stones to be added at the top of Ward’s End, near Bedford Square, to enable granite paving to be laid around the car park. As the construction teams will be working in the road, the closure is needed for their safety.

Granby Street will be made temporarily two way from Frederick Street so Granby Street car park can still be accessed.

Nearby Beehive Lane Car Park continues to offer free parking for up to an hour; after 6pm and all day on Sundays.

A Charnwood Borough Council spokesperson said: “We are making good progress on the scheme and when complete it will make a significant difference to the town centre and greatly increase the attractiveness of the area.

“However, the project means there will be some disruption in the town centre which we are keeping to an absolute minimum.”