Leicester City Council (LCC) appointed PJA to undertake a feasibility and design study for improvements to Belgrave Road.
The commission followed the recent removal of the Belgrave Flyover, the first step in LCC’s efforts to make this important business destination feel more integrated with the adjacent city centre. The study area comprised the A607 Belgrave Road, which is a prominent shopping street and a busy radial traffic route in the city, carrying on average 26,500 vehicles every day as well as being a high-frequency public transport corridor.
It is known as the ‘Golden Mile’ and is a locally and nationally important South Asian shopping centre which lies astride the route. The Golden Mile is best known for its annual Diwali celebrations and as a destination for South Asian wedding shopping. It is renowned for its authentic Indian restaurants, sari shops and Indian jewellers, as well as being the local high street for the neighbouring community.
The area is currently dominated by traffic and the route itself and a number of the side streets are located within an identified Air Quality Management Area (AQMA).
The area has the potential to be an economic and cultural driving force for Leicester and the East Midlands more broadly, however this opportunity is constrained by the fabric of the street, its relatively poor appearance, and safety in its daily use. Perceptions are of a street that is relatively low in quality compared with similar principal shopping streets in the city and other competing South Asian special retail centres.
The project team led by PJA worked with the Golden Mile Regeneration Group and other key stakeholders to discuss their views and concerns, and to develop possible design ideas to redress this balance and consider the opportunity to reduce traffic flow.
The team delivered three outline designs which went through an initial round of consultation, before a second consultation stage sought the public’s views on a choice of two options.
The consultation events were extremely well-attended given the importance of the street in both economic and movement terms. The consultation process was informed by high-quality graphics produced by PJA, including video animations of the proposed traffic management system and 3D interactive renders of the public realm layout.
