Is the City of Leicester a dump?

[davieG]

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/leicesters-most-confusing-junction-now-9281552

 

Leicester's most confusing junction 'now more confusing' say angry residents and traders
People are furious about the changes made to the Fiveways junction on the A50

ByTom MackSenior Reporter
04:52, 14 MAY 2024

 

 

Lorry driver Adrian Prinvas isn't impressed

It was billed as a £10 million solution for Leicester's most confusing junction. But now that the work is complete, people in the area are angry and disappointed.

LeicestershireLive went to speak to people in the area after Leicester City Council announced the completion of work to overhaul the complex Fiveways junction, which connects Blackbird Road, Woodgate, Fosse Road North, Groby Road and Buckminster Road and has been dubbed the most confusing in the city, to find out what impact the changes had had.

People who spoke to us said there were now more accidents and more sounding of horns, and that the change has been bad for local businesses. Andrew Holmes, 66, who was shopping in the area yesterday (Monday): "It's chaos. It's just mad.

READ MORE: Leicester's 'most confusing' junction Fiveways to close as major improvement scheme continues

"There are these great massive cycle lanes no one bloomin' uses. I live in Basset Street and I can't turn right off Woodgate onto Blackbird Road anymore, so I have to go the long way round through the residential area - and it's harder still getting back home because I can't turn left off Blackbird Road onto Woodgate, either."

Viv James, who works at Booze Stop on the junction, said: "I think the council has ****** this up. We've got a wide bike lane right outside so people can't pull up outside the shop.

"If they're buying a crate of beer they're having to carry it a long way back to their car. By lunchtime normally we'd have done about £200 to £300 in business - so far today it's £60.

Viv James has lost the parking spaces outside his shop, replaced with a bike lane
Viv James has lost the parking spaces outside his shop, replaced with a bike lane
"They've not done the flow right for the traffic either and it's chaotic. I've seen five or six accidents in the last three months."

Lorry driver Adrian Prinvas, 56, who was shopping in the area and lives just off Fosse Road North, said: "I'm not very happy about not being able to turn left off Blackbird into the city anymore. And then if you come in the opposite direction - from Fosse Road North - wanting to go into the city you have to go into the queue after the bus lane ends.

"But if the queue is full you're not meant to go into the bus lane - you're meant to hold everyone up behind you instead, which is stupid. I just turn into the bus lane - I hope they never put bus lane cameras in.

"If they do, I'll go to court and I'll fight it."

Kim Stanton, 39, who regularly walks past the junction, said: "I think it's worse. I don't drive but when I'm at the bus stop watching everyone driving it seems like no one knows which lane to be in and it's just going to cause accidents.

"I hear a lot more horns papping than I used to."

About £10.4 million has been spent on the scheme, which the city council previously described has having been "Leicester's most confusing junction"
About £10.4 million has been spent on the scheme, which the city council previously described has having been "Leicester's most confusing junction"
Amir Hussain, who works at Woodgate Computers, said: "It's so confusing. There's a bike lane that nobody uses that's wider than a bus lane.

"I don't drive but a lot of motorists who come in say they've found it more confusing than before. Since it was completed I've already seen four minor collisions from cars not knowing where they're going."

Mriwaan Ibrahim, owner of Huntsman Barbers, said: "It was a totally messed up idea. It causes lots of traffic queues and the number of beeps you hear and accidents you see is more than before.

"We're not happy as shopkeepers in this area. The one thing we were looking forward to was the extra parking spaces but what's the point of them if people can't find their way here because it's so confusing?"

Sart Ahmed, who owns Hardware and DIY, added: "Business is down for us ,and all businesses. Customers are going elsewhere.

"People preferred it as it was before. It was much better."

A Leicester City Council spokesperson said: “The new, remodelled Fiveways junction has been designed and modelled by experts to provide a safer route for all users, with improved crossings for pedestrians, protected bike lanes and a less confusing junction arrangement for motorists.

“It will also help improve the reliability of bus services that use this route.

“The junction has been transformed and we know that significant changes of this kind can take time for people to get used to. We will be introducing additional signs, a little further back from the junction, to provide an earlier indication of what lane to be in and this should help address any incidents of motorists cutting in as they get used to the new arrangement.”

[PAULCFC]

I lived at the bottom of Groby Road from 1968 (when i was born) until the late 1980's and that junction was fine......everyone knew where to cross/go in cars......now it's just a Soulsby Vanity project with Bus Lane's (Which are not used very often........look at bus prices!) And cycle paths.......which not many people use......basically who was ever in charge of doing this mess need's sacking!And who came up with the name "Five Ways Junction"...........Still be Groby Road Jct to me!

Edited 14 May by PAULCFC

[Stadt]

The bus lane is so stupid, it causes so much traffic buses get stuck in it further up anyway.

[Lako42]

That entry from Glenfield is a full blown disgrace. 

 

 

[Wymsey]

It seems like young kids and stabbings in Leicester are becoming too common..

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/child-arrested-after-boy-suffers-9284763

 

[westernpark]

1 hour ago, Wymsey said:

It seems like young kids and stabbings in Leicester are becoming too common..

https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/child-arrested-after-boy-suffers-9284763

 

Unfortunately it’s a nationwide issue and not solely a local one.

[FLAN]

Five ways towards fosse road always has people crossing lanes now as they either didn’t bother looking at signs or just can’t be bothered waiting for the busy lane ot has created 

[ithuriel]

4 hours ago, FLAN said:

Five ways towards fosse road always has people crossing lanes now as they either didn’t bother looking at signs or just can’t be bothered waiting for the busy lane ot has created 

Someone will get run over there one of these days, someone on their phone, not paying attention and seeing the traffic stopped but not realising  another lane still has traffic going but from one side of the road you wont see it coming.

[WarehamFox]

Does anyone know why after replacing all the bus shelters in Leicester for the flat top version,  which supports a flower bed and was a going to be a corridor for bees and other insects, have never been planted? All that expense and two years later no wild flowers planted in any I have seen, nearly all have no flower beds at all still. 

[westernpark]

1 minute ago, WarehamFox said:

Does anyone know why after replacing all the bus shelters in Leicester for the flat top version,  which supports a flower bed and was a going to be a corridor for bees and other insects, have never been planted? All that expense and two years later no wild flowers planted in any I have seen, nearly all have no flower beds at all still. 

I’m not sure why this hasn’t completely materialised. However, I don’t think Leicester City Council paid for it.

[lcfc278]

15 hours ago, WarehamFox said:

Does anyone know why after replacing all the bus shelters in Leicester for the flat top version,  which supports a flower bed and was a going to be a corridor for bees and other insects, have never been planted? All that expense and two years later no wild flowers planted in any I have seen, nearly all have no flower beds at all still. 

I remember one finally got put in on Narborough road and actually planted, then literally 2/3 days later a bus or a lorry (I can't remember) drove straight into it and knocked it over and it was never replaced.

[Footballwipe]

I genuinely do wonder what the anti-SPS brigade will do when he's left office, when there's no-one left to blame for everything they don't like. Will they just move onto the next person and treat them with the same unhinged contempt?

 

John in Stoney Stanton, Margaret who emigrated to Benidorm in 1997, Janice who now lives in Cornwall or Ken who hasn't visited the city centre since 2016 love to have their say in the Merc or FB comments section as if they have a keyword setup for his name, and it is as baffling as it is tiring, really.

[lcfc278]

I had to check and found the story, I think it was actually about 3/4 weeks after it was installed, so unlucky (https://www.leicestermercury.co.uk/news/leicester-news/woman-injured-after-double-decker-5576068)

[westernpark]

2 minutes ago, Footballwipe said:

I genuinely do wonder what the anti-SPS brigade will do when he's left office, when there's no-one left to blame for everything they don't like. Will they just move onto the next person and treat them with the same unhinged contempt?

 

John in Stoney Stanton, Margaret who emigrated to Benidorm in 1997, Janice who now lives in Cornwall or Ken who hasn't visited the city centre since 2016 love to have their say in the Merc or FB comments section as if they have a keyword setup for his name, and it is as baffling as it is tiring, really.

There is such a lack of education on how funding works in local authority, it’s bizarre. I thankfully don’t have Facebook anymore but occasionally on the Leicester Mercury website I’ll wonder into the comments. 

[Daggers]

The question about who owns what - Private Eye used to run a great mapping service so you could see who was avoiding tax…

 

https://www.private-eye.co.uk/registry

 

 

[Footballwipe]

11 minutes ago, westernpark said:

There is such a lack of education on how funding works in local authority, it’s bizarre. I thankfully don’t have Facebook anymore but occasionally on the Leicester Mercury website I’ll wonder into the comments. 

Shining example was the train station. You can think it's a bit of a waste of money but to start painting it as a "vanity project" and waste of money when it was entirely funded by the DLUHC is lack of research bordering on wilful ignorance.

 

Short of SPS turning the clock back to a city centre from circa 1995 for some of these people I'm not sure anything could be okay for them.

 

You know what, though, if nothing else these people give me a burning desire to be NOTHING like that kind of moaning idiot when I'm older.

[westernpark]

1 minute ago, Footballwipe said:

Shining example was the train station. You can think it's a bit of a waste of money but to start painting it as a "vanity project" and waste of money when it was entirely funded by the DLUHC is lack of research bordering on wilful ignorance.

 

Short of SPS turning the clock back to a city centre from circa 1995 for some of these people I'm not sure anything could be okay for them.

 

You know what, though, if nothing else these people give me a burning desire to be NOTHING like that kind of moaning idiot when I'm older.

Same with the cycle lanes, most of them are funded by the European Regional Development Fund, or at least were! Criticism should come for Soulsby but they ignore the crucial bits, like the children care crisis around 2015, if I remember correctly. I think Vi Dempster stepped down but she’s back as a Deputy Mayor now.
The likely bankruptcy on the horizon, will bring even more misguided criticism. In my opinion, we are not bankrupt yet because of the decent management of finances, the council have decent reserves that will soon go. Nonetheless, Bob from Brisbane will blame Soulsby rather than looking at funding from central government and the increase in statutory spending.

[davieG]

3 minutes ago, Footballwipe said:

Shining example was the train station. You can think it's a bit of a waste of money but to start painting it as a "vanity project" and waste of money when it was entirely funded by the DLUHC is lack of research bordering on wilful ignorance.

 

Short of SPS turning the clock back to a city centre from circa 1995 for some of these people I'm not sure anything could be okay for them.

 

You know what, though, if nothing else these people give me a burning desire to be NOTHING like that kind of moaning idiot when I'm older.

 I have no fundamental problem with the station project but the DLUHC is still taxpayers money and people have right to comment positively or negatively on how it's spent.

 

As an aside I do wish the council had ignored the protests back in the day and routed London Rd. to Charles St. along Conduit St we then could have had a great exit from the Station to Granby St.

[Wolfox]

Had a quick flick through the last few pages

 

i had some colleagues over recently from Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Italy 

 

i took them to the bottle garden (fancy aperitif), blue boar (a bit of Britishness), Sonrisa (nice building and passable food)…. A quick pic with Ricky 3 and a stroll up past town hall square…

 

“Leicester’s a really nice place, I didn’t realise it had all this history”  

 

it has it’s iffy bits, but a lot to commend it too…. We’re our own worst critics!

Edited 17 May by Wolfox

[Lako42]

1 hour ago, Wolfox said:

Had a quick flick through the last few pages

 

i had some colleagues over recently from Belgium, Switzerland, Germany and Italy 

 

i took them to the bottle garden (fancy aperitif), blue boar (a bit of Britishness), Sonrisa (nice building and passable food)…. A quick pic with Ricky 3 and a stroll up past town hall square…

 

“Leicester’s a really nice place, I didn’t realise it had all this history”  

 

it has it’s iffy bits, but a lot to commend it too…. We’re our own worst critics!

We take self depreciating to a new level. 

 

I'm all for self deprecation but it goes way too far here and results in a non stop loop of absolute misery being spouted by the locals. 

 

There was a  moment about 8 years a go where an effort was being made to put some pride in and I thought it was going the right way but it's actually gone backwards. 

[RonnieTodger]

Noticed that Hotel Brooklyn has changed to “voco”.

 

Shame, I liked all the Brooklyn subway style branding. 

[Stadt]

32 minutes ago, RonnieTodger said:

Noticed that Hotel Brooklyn has changed to “voco”.

 

Shame, I liked all the Brooklyn subway style branding. 

I liked the branding but the name itself is naff. It's a bit New York Stadium 

[Paninistickers]

18 hours ago, RonnieTodger said:

Noticed that Hotel Brooklyn has changed to “voco”.

 

Shame, I liked all the Brooklyn subway style branding. 

Just a transfer of ownership.  Same happened in Manchester. 

[MattFox]

On 17/05/2024 at 12:19, RonnieTodger said:

Noticed that Hotel Brooklyn has changed to “voco”.

 

Shame, I liked all the Brooklyn subway style branding. 

IHG (Holiday Inn) have bought them out

[pkonline]

A lot of the challenges Leicester has are not unique to it, and could be said for any city of it's size.

 

Having grown up in Leicester in the 80s and 90s and comparing it today, it's much better. Take for example shops - back then, many people used to shop in Nottingham - now, and I live in Nottingham, the shops are much better in Leicester and Highcross beats the Nottingham centres.

 

Just compare Leicester centre to Nottingham and Derby, hands down much better. Restaurants and bars - with character, independence - Nottingham in particular has seen a massive drop because it has usually relied on it's large student populus for the bars and clubs, which, because of changes in how young people socialise, are going out of business.

 

We have a fantastic sporting tradition which adds a real buzz to the city.

 

The Comedy Festival is brilliant, and we have amazing theatres - the Curve is probably one of, if not, the best regional theatre in the country.

 

Another area Leicester thrives is it's multiculturalism - again, compared to how things were growing up in the "brown area" of the City, I see far more integration today - just take a look at the football, it's lovely to see 2nd and 3rd generations being part of our shared football community. I do wish more people would try some of the authentic restaurants up Belgrave and Melton Road - you really are missing out on some of the very best Indian food in the UK, and would be welcomed.