Powerful Investment for Leicester

A £5 million investment to further improve power supplies in Leicester is nearing completion.

Western Power Distribution (WPD), the electricity distributor for the region, is committed to investing in its network to improve supply reliability and customer service levels.

The project, which started in May, involved the construction of a new substation on Hockley Farm Road in Leicester and the laying of around 10km of underground cables to connect it to two existing substations – one on Blackbird Avenue and one near the King Power Stadium. This will help to further safeguard supply reliability to around 42,000 customers in Leicester.

The majority of the cable laying is now complete and the final stages are due to take place over the next few weeks. This will involve the laying of around 200 metres of cable on Woodgate between Bassett Street and Dunton Street starting on Saturday October 18. Once this has been completed, around 250 metres of cables will also be laid on the Swan Bridge Gyratory including Upperton Road and Raw Dykes Road early next week.

In early November, the final section of cable will be laid on the A5460 Narborough Road where it crosses with Evesham Road and Fullhurst Avenue.

“It ensures that we can provide a high level of service to these areas in the long term by improving the infrastructure and security of our electricity network,” said Richard Horlington, WPD’s Projects Team Manager for the area.

“We are aware that these are busy areas of the city and we have been working closely with Leicester City Council and the Highways Agency and who have given us permission to undertake our work during the school holidays, when traffic flow is likely to be reduced and there are no football or rugby fixtures taking place at the stadium.

“The work will help to safeguard electricity supplies in the region for years to come, but we are conscious that it could also cause some inconvenience to commuters, and we would like to apologise in advance if this is the case.

“The cable laying is being undertaken by AMEY on behalf of WPD and letters will be sent to customers in the area to inform them about the work,” said Richard.