The A508 closes from Springfield Street to the county boundary for up to 28 days of resurfacing, and five side roads lose parking. No diversion is published.

The A508 Northampton Road, the main road south out of Market Harborough, closes to through traffic on Monday 21 September.

Leicestershire County Council’s statutory notice books the closure from the Springfield Street junction to the county boundary, for carriageway resurfacing. The order allows the works to run for up to 28 days. The county’s own weekly works register books the closure through to 10 October.

Waiting and loading are banned at any time for about 30 metres from Northampton Road on five side roads and accesses:

  • Clipston Street
  • Scotland Road
  • Lathkill Street
  • Compass Point
  • the access from the A508 to the leisure centre club house and the scout hut

No diversion route has been published. The notice says only that the proposed diversion will be signed on site.

Why the road is being dug up now

The resurfacing is the second half of a job that started a fortnight ago.

The works register carries a separate permit on Northampton Road, running from 2 September to 30 October, to convert an uncontrolled crossing into a toucan crossing, the type shared by people walking and cycling. That permit describes the crossing team as “working alongside maintenance team who will be resurfacing main road after central island removed and signal ducting installed”.

In order, then: the central island comes out, the ducting for the new signals goes in, and the carriageway is resurfaced on top. Two-way temporary signals have been in place for the crossing work since 2 September.

Harborough Leisure Centre sits on Northampton Road, at LE16 9HF. The notice names its club house access among the junctions losing kerbside parking, so anyone driving to the leisure centre or the scout hut in late September should expect to arrive inside a works zone.

Ireton Road shuts the same day

Northampton Road is not the only closure starting on 21 September. Ireton Road is booked shut from that day until 7 October, for Western Power Distribution to dig six joint holes and trench 101 metres of footway for a new supply.

Newcombe Street also closes for a single day on 21 September, for the county council to patch two areas of carriageway.

That puts three Market Harborough streets into closures on the same Monday, on top of the multi-way signals that have been on Lubenham Hill, Coventry Road, Brookfield Road and Hill Top Close since 14 September and stay there until 20 November, and the Rockingham Road corridor works that run into 2027.

Northampton Road closure: the dates that matter A key dates panel. The toucan crossing permit runs 2 September to 30 October under two-way signals. The road closure for resurfacing starts 21 September, is booked in the works register to 10 October, and the statutory order allows up to 28 days. Five side roads lose waiting and loading. Ireton Road is separately closed 21 September to 7 October. A508 Northampton Road: the dates that matter Market Harborough, from the county council's works register and its statutory notice of 2 September 2026 21 September Road closure starts 28 days Maximum the order allows 5 side roads Lose waiting and loading What is booked, and until when Toucan crossing conversion, two-way signals 2 Sept to 30 Oct Northampton Road closed, Springfield St to county boundary 21 Sept to 10 Oct Ireton Road closed, new electricity supply 21 Sept to 7 Oct Newcombe Street closed, carriageway patching 21 Sept, one day Source: Leicestershire County Council works register, 13 September 2026, and statutory notice dated 2 September 2026 Graphic by Harborough News

What the council has not published

The county has published no scheme page for the Northampton Road work, no cost, and no design for the finished crossing. It has also published no diversion.

There is one further gap worth naming. The row in the works register that books the closure leaves the road name blank. It reads only “Future carriageway resurfacing Scheme”, Market Harborough, 21 September to 10 October, road closure. The road name and the extent come from the statutory notice, which is explicit about both. We have put nothing on this page that the two records do not say.

What it means for you

If you drive south out of Market Harborough, plan a different route from Monday 21 September. Follow the signs on the day, because no diversion has been published in advance.

If you drive to Harborough Leisure Centre or the scout hut, the access off the A508 is inside the restricted zone, and you will not be able to wait or load on it at any time while the signs are up.

If you park on Clipston Street, Scotland Road, Lathkill Street or Compass Point near the Northampton Road end, the ban applies for about 30 metres from the junction.

If your journey crosses town, remember Ireton Road and Newcombe Street go on the same day, and Lubenham Hill is already on signals to the west. Every live closure in the district is on our roadworks and travel page, refreshed weekly, and town centre parking is on our parking page.

Sources