Locals have slammed a confusing a new £10 million road layout which has a two-way cycle lane ‘twice as wide as the actual road’, a bus lane in the middle of the road, double yellow lines, a partial filter lane and a path for pedestrians.
The baffling layout on Fosse Road North in Leicester, which has been put in place as part of a massive overhaul of the city’s main arterial roads, has been branded a ‘waste of money’ by angry motorists who say it is confusing and could cause crashes.
The changes are part of a wider scheme to allow for pedestrians and cyclists to have their own designated lanes, as well as buses and cars, around Five Junctions Way by the A50.
The design, which has been dubbed ‘a nightmare’ and ‘accident waiting to happen’, is estimated to cost the council £10.4 million.
It will be paid using part of the £32 million handed to the city council from central Government under the Transforming Cities Fund, as well as cash from the Enterprise Zone funding through the Leicester and Leicestershire Enterprise Partnership.
A new baffling layout on Fosse Road North in Leicester has been slammed by angry locals as ‘confusing’ and ‘an accident waiting to happen’
Leicester residents Gwen and Mike Thompson said the layout looks like a ‘magic eye picture’
Infuriated locals took to social media outraged at the council’s new infrastructure, with some claiming it looked like a ‘magic eye picture’.
One said: ‘Perfect example of how to take a perfectly usable road and create chaos.’
Another added: ‘Good luck to the people navigating around here this morning. Looks like a right nightmare and I can’t imagine what it’s going to be like during rush hour.’
A third said: ‘What in the hell have you done to this road!? Thought you were making it less confusing – not more.’
Another social media user said: ‘Another complete waste of money.’
Others, however, defended the new layout with one saying: ‘Moan, moan, moan moan, moan. Find an alternative route.’
Another added: ‘Brilliant news. I’ve been waiting for this section of the ring road to get a cycle lane. Bravo. My bike is ready.’
City highways director Martin Fletcher defended the new markings, saying the design complied with rules set by the Department for Transport.
The road layout has a two-way cycle lane ‘twice as wide as the actual road’, a bus lane in the middle of the road, double yellow lines, a partial filter lane and a path for pedestrians
He said: ‘The thousands of bus users who use that route every week they are going to see a much-needed benefit in terms of waits.
‘In real terms it isn’t much of a change in terms of traffic flow. The two-way flow is still there; it is still as it was.
‘We have just repurposed some of the road space and widened the footpath and roadway to give us that extra width for the bus bypass lane to get to the junction quicker.’
MailOnline has contacted Leicester City Council for a statement.