Work on the A511 Coalville improvement scheme is among the subjects under discussion at next week's Leicestershire County Council cabinet meeting.

The start of the project was recently put back to 2025 - after work was meant to begin this year.

Completion of the scheme is now not expected until towards the end of 2027.

It is part of the council's four-year capital programme, coming in at over £200million, and including 'big-ticket' items such as the continued construction of the North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road, cycling and walking infrastructure projects, as well as the advance the A511 Coalville improvement scheme.

Plans to invest millions of pounds in fixing roads, supporting cycling, walking and bus travel, tackling road safety and congestion and boosting greener travel across Leicestershire, are also set to be drawn up.

 Published today (Monday), a new County Council report stresses that, although Leicestershire has received £238m of Government 'Network North' money for the next seven years, much detailed work needs to be carried out before cash from the Local Transport Fund (LTF) can be allocated to projects across the county.

Councillor Ozzy O'Shea, cabinet member for highways and transport, said: "While we hugely welcome the extra funding, it's not going to be an overnight fix of everything out there, so we do need to manage expectations.

"First, we need detailed Government guidance on how much we'll get each year – and what we do know is that the allocations will be lower in the earlier years.

The A511 in Coalville. Photo: Instantstreetview.com

"We have priorities all over the county where we might want to deliver schemes, but we need to work through this and make sure we are delivering the improvements that give the greatest benefit to our communities."

Network North money, switched to other road and transport projects following the cancellation of HS2, has also brought in an additional £2.25m for pothole fixing and repairing other highway defects. This is on top of £32m – a combination of money allocated by the council and maintenance grant from the Department for Transport – already earmarked for the coming financial year.

Cllr O'Shea added: "What we do know, is that from 2025 onwards, there will be more allocations for maintenance work and, hopefully, we can then begin to provide some serious investment to improve our highways network.

"We are already among the top performing councils when it comes to residents' satisfaction with the condition of our roads, despite the ongoing challenge posed by more defects. This extra funding will help us to do more in the areas most in need."

Next Tuesday (March 26), the council's cabinet will consider the update, approving the development of a long term plan for the LTF and plans for wider consultation.