One of Leicester’s landmarks will be gone within a month. The Belgrave Flyover, which until this weekend carried traffic from the inner ring road over a major junction to the so called “Golden Mile” district of jewellers and Asian restaurants, is an ugly concrete structure, pockmarked by the weather, wear & tear, and an altercation with a JCB a few years ago. There has been a long term aim to remove it, and thank to a planning deal with Sainsbury, who relocated from an adjacent supermarket to a large new store a couple of miles ago, an opportunity arose for the project to be funded privately.
I and a colleague visited the site this morning, to meet the demolition contractors, who wish to work until midnight. Our role is to ensure that the local residents do not lose too much sleep. We will how successful we have been on the first night that the main concrete-crunching starts.
