North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road Project Update

Welcome to the first North & East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road newsletter, bringing you the latest stories, updates, and information about one of the county council’s biggest-ever road-building projects.

As you’ll see in this edition, contractor Galliford Try has started archaeological surveys and ground preparations for the new road, which will improve air quality and provide faster local journeys.

The project is predicted to generate economic opportunities by taking traffic away from the town and boosting visitor numbers to Britain’s ‘rural food capital'. It will also support the Melton Local Plan, which will bring improved access to future housing and employment opportunities.

The scheme consists of a single carriageway road and extends from the A606 Nottingham Road at the north-western edge of the town to the A606 Burton Road in the south, crossing Scalford Road, Melton Spinney Road, A607 Thorpe Road and B676 Saxby Road. There will be six roundabouts built as part of the scheme.

Cycling and pedestrian facilities will run along the scheme’s length, boosting active travel options. Bus punctuality is also expected to improve with less congestion.

The new road will create new junctions and provide crossings over the railway line and the River Eye.

The road is scheduled to open late 2025.

The Road Ahead

Road building is a complex and multi-layered process requiring a large team of people to make it happen. Keeping everything on track and overseeing the day-to-day planning is Dave Collis, Project Delivery Manager, Leicestershire County Council. We caught up with him at the earth works section, between the A606 Nottingham Road and the Scalford Road, to find out more about what is currently happening on site.

Digging with Digital

Have you ever wondered how large excavators accurately prepare the ground for a new road? At the North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road site, digital technology and GPS are providing important assistance in this process. Located within antennae on the machinery, GPS measures the position of the bucket or blade and sends this information to the excavator’s on-board control platform. Supporting the human skills and experience of the operator, the machine’s movements are then continually matched in relation to detailed digital drawings, created for the site.

Local Archaeology

Numerous archaeological discoveries have been made in recent years in and around Melton Mowbray, mainly when development works have taken place. The archaeological investigation of the distributor road is hugely significant as it provides a landscape scale understanding of the local historic environment.

Amongst a range of sites identified, the remains of a large Roman farmstead complex have been discovered during topsoil stripping for the new road. Finds so far include evidence of domestic and agricultural activity, including pottery, animal bone and a small quantity of metalwork including a copper alloy brooch. Read the full story in Galliford Try NE MMDR news.