'Unexpected delays' cause busy road in Harborough district to remain shut after seven months

A busy commuter road that has been shut for seven months will remain closed because of “unexpected delays” to a railway bridge upgrade.

Parts of Station Road, which runs between Great Glen and Fleckney, have been closed since mid-January, preventing people travelling between the Newton Lane and Kibworth Road junctions.

The closure has been needed because of work being carried out on a bridge that sits above a railway line. Network Rail has been reconstructing and raising the bridge to make way for new electric wires.

The road was due to re-open on Tuesday August 1, but remains closed a week on. Network Rail said today that it will now not reopen until the end of the month, due to “unexpected delays”.

A spokesperson for the rail company said: “The closure to Station Road in Great Glen has had to be extended to the end of August. Work to the bridge has taken longer than anticipated but our teams are working hard to reopen the bridge as soon as possible.

“The diversion route is still in place. We will endeavour to keep residents up to date with developments and apologise for any inconvenience caused by the work.”

The work is part of a multi-million pound Midland Main Line electrification programme, which is currently working to upgrade the route between Kettering and Wigston. This is to allow for quieter and cleaner electric trains to run on the tracks rather than diesel engines.

Many commuters have been disrupted by the road closure, as the road is commonly used by residents of Fleckney, Great Glen and Kibworth when travelling to work. In January, one Great Glen resident, who asked not to be named, described the seven month closure as a “nightmare”.

He said at the time: “I understand why they’re doing it, but it’s still an absolute nightmare for people like me who use the route pretty much every day. I don’t suppose people living in Newton Harcourt will be especially pleased with it all. The main road through their village is already a rat-run, but it’s going to get even busier – and potentially quite dangerous.”