CHRISTMAS shopping gridlock is set to ease in Leicester Road with the opening of the extension to Elliott’s Field Shopping Park – complete with new access roads and hundreds of new parking spaces.
New branches of Carpetright, Halfords and Rugby’s first Starbucks have already opened at the out-of-town retail park, as well as one of two new vehicle entrances.
Traffic regularly clogged up around the park’s sole access road during last year’s Christmas shopping season, with some Rugbeians reporting delays of up to one hour when trying to leave.
New stores are also due to open over the coming weeks, beginning with DFS on Saturday (December 9) and Furniture Village on Boxing Day (December 26).
Dwell, Oak Furniture Land, Sofology and Tapi are due to open during December and January.
Work carried out by Warwickshire County Council and funded by the park’s owners Hammerson to widen Leicester Road – creating a new junction with traffic lights, and new pedestrian and cycle paths – will continue until early 2018.
The £20million expansion is creating around 120 new jobs, and adding around 500 new parking spaces.
