Rockingham Road is dug up from 17 August to March 2027, and Clarence Street is one-way on an 18-month trial. What is closed, for how long, and the routes around it.

The biggest piece of roadworks Market Harborough has seen in years starts on Monday 17 August 2026, when Leicestershire County Council begins a £1.9 million rebuild of the Rockingham Road corridor. The first junction, Gores Lane, is expected to take until the end of November. The rest runs to late March 2027.

Clarence Street has already changed: a one-way northbound trial started in early August and is set to run for 18 months.

Roads here are the county council’s job, not the district council’s, which is why almost every scheme below is a Leicestershire County Council one. This page covers what is happening now, the routes that carry the town, and where to check before you set off.

Rockingham Road, from 17 August 2026

Phase 1 of the Market Harborough Transport Programme covers the Rockingham Road corridor. It is funded by Section 106 developer contributions and a grant from Active Travel England rather than from the council’s own budget.

What is being built:

  • Redesigned junctions at St Mary’s Road / Kettering Road and Rockingham Road / Gores Lane, the latter with a new signalised pedestrian and cycle crossing.
  • Widened footways along the corridor.
  • New side road crossings on raised speed tables.
  • A wider shared walking and cycling path between the railway bridge and Rockingham Industrial Estate.
  • More cycle parking, new signs, tree planting and street furniture.

The raised tables carry intelligent road studs that flash to warn drivers when someone is crossing. The county council says this is the first use of the technology anywhere in Leicestershire, so expect to see something you have not seen before at these junctions.

The timetable:

Market Harborough Transport Programme, phase 1, as published by Leicestershire County Council
StageWhen
Clarence Street one-way trial beginsEarly August 2026, running 18 months
Work starts at Gores Lane junctionMonday 17 August 2026
Gores Lane signal junction completeEnd of November 2026
Remainder of phase 1 completeLate March 2027
Phase 2 (The Square, Welland Park Road)Not yet programmed

Rockingham Road is one of the town’s busiest routes and already queues at peak times around Clarence Street and Gores Lane, which is the problem the scheme is meant to fix. For the next seven months it is also the thing causing the queue. Traffic management will be in place throughout and the council has said closure details will be updated on the project page as they change.

The Clarence Street one-way trial

The council is trialling Clarence Street as one-way northbound. It went in as a trial deliberately, so that traffic movements, the effect on nearby junctions including Albert Road, and what residents actually experience can all be watched before anyone decides whether to make it permanent.

Two dates matter. The trial runs for 18 months. Comments are open for six months from the start, which is the window in which what you say counts towards the decision. Feedback goes to the project team at mhtsphase1@leics.gov.uk.

The routes that carry the town

Between schemes, these are the roads worth knowing. Market Harborough’s road layout is simpler than most towns its size, which is a strength when things run and a weakness when one route shuts.

The main roads in and out of Market Harborough A schematic of Market Harborough at the centre with six routes radiating out: the A6 north to Leicester via Kibworth and Great Glen, the B6047 north-east to Melton, the A427 east to Corby, the A508 south to Northampton, the A14 to the south, and the A4304 west to Lutterworth and M1 junction 20, about eleven miles away. The A6 bypasses the town to the east. Six ways out of Market Harborough Schematic, not to scale. The A6 bypasses the town to the east; the A14 runs across the south. Market Harborough Population 24,779 A6 north Great Glen, Kibworth, Leicester B6047 Melton Mowbray A427 east Corby A508 south Northampton A4304 west Lutterworth, M1 J20, 11 miles A14 across the south The pinch points Rockingham Road at Clarence St and Gores Lane, and the A6 Wistow Road roundabout at Kibworth, which the county says runs over capacity.
  • A6 north to Great Glen, Kibworth and Leicester. The A6 bypasses Market Harborough to the east, which is why the town centre is calmer than a town on a trunk route usually is.
  • A4304 west to Lutterworth and M1 junction 20, about 11 miles away. This is the motorway route and the reason Lutterworth trades on car access while Market Harborough trades on trains.
  • A427 east through Dingley and the Northamptonshire villages to Corby, and on to Oundle. Twenty-one miles end to end, and the road that makes Corby a realistic commute.
  • A508 south to Northampton.
  • B6047 north-east to Melton Mowbray, by way of Tur Langton and Tilton on the Hill.
  • A14 runs across the south of the district, the east-west freight route to Kettering and the A1.

The A6 north: two schemes to watch

The A6 is the road most Harborough people use to reach Leicester, and there is work on it at both ends of the journey.

A6 Kibworth, Leicester Road / Wistow Road roundabout. The county council says this roundabout “operates over capacity” at peak times, producing long queues and unreliable journeys. A rebuilt layout is designed to get both southbound A6 lanes properly used on the approach. Construction is planned for summer 2027, finishing winter 2027, funded by Section 106 money from Kibworth development. The council has been explicit that this roundabout is the bottleneck and that fixing other A6 junctions first would make things worse, not better, which is worth remembering next time someone asks why a different junction is not being done.

A6 Oadby, The Parade and Brabazon Road. A separate £1.9 million scheme started on 3 August 2026 and is expected to run 16 weeks, so into late November. New and upgraded signal-controlled crossings, resurfaced footways and renewed traffic signals. Temporary traffic lights, lane closures and some side road closures are in place throughout. Speed limits are not changing. Phase 2, on Brabazon Road, follows in early 2027. Oadby is not in this district, but it is on the road to Leicester, so it is on the commute.

Parking at the station

The practical alternative to driving into Leicester or London is the train, and Market Harborough station has 314 parking spaces including 32 accessible ones. It fills on weekday mornings. The approach from the north and east is along Rockingham Road, so allow extra time from 17 August. Full times and fares are on our trains to London page.

There is no park and ride in Harborough district.

Why all this is happening now

Almost every scheme on this page is paid for by Section 106 contributions from housebuilders rather than from council tax, which tells you what is driving it. The district’s new Local Plan allocates land for at least 6,422 homes, 1,350 of them in Market Harborough itself, and the county council is explicit that the Rockingham Road junctions are being rebuilt so they can cope “under the pressure of development growth in the town”. Our planning page has the numbers and the sites.

If you are heading out rather than commuting, Foxton Locks and the rest are on our things to do page, with parking charges.

Where to check before you travel

Frequently asked questions

When do the Rockingham Road roadworks start?

Monday 17 August 2026, beginning at the Gores Lane junction. That junction is expected to be finished by the end of November 2026 and the rest of phase 1 by late March 2027.

Is Clarence Street one-way?

Yes, northbound, on a trial that began in early August 2026 and is scheduled to run 18 months. Residents can comment for the first six months, and the council will decide afterwards whether to make it permanent.

Who is responsible for roads in Market Harborough?

Leicestershire County Council is the highway authority. Harborough District Council handles planning, bins and parking enforcement but not the roads themselves. The A14 and M1 are National Highways.

How much is the Rockingham Road scheme costing?

£1.9 million, funded by Section 106 contributions from developers and a grant from Active Travel England, not from council tax.

When is the A6 Kibworth roundabout being improved?

Construction is planned to start in summer 2027 and finish in winter 2027. It is funded by Section 106 money from development in and around Kibworth.

How far is the M1 from Market Harborough?

About 11 miles, west along the A4304 to junction 20 at Lutterworth.

Sources

Roadworks move. Start dates slip, closures get added and phases run over. Everything above is what the highway authority had published on 9 August 2026; check one.network on the day.