Cycling provision around the Thickthorn roundabout in Kenilworth is expected to be built in 2026, as part of the Kenilworth to Leamington Spa cycleway.

An update to Kenilworth Town Council (KTC) on the K2L cycleway project revealed the works on the roundabout will be stage three of the 5km cycleway.

Forward funding for a variety of works at Thickthorn have already been signed off by Warwickshire County Council, with improvements also aimed at easing traffic on and off the Leamington Road and A46 due to the number of new houses being built locally.

"Changes to the Thickthorn roundabout are funded but there is still more design work to be done to finalise the solution," the update said.

The report to KTC also revealed phase 1C (Blackdown to Bericote) is also expected to be built in early 2026, meanwhile section two from Bericote to Thickthorn could be as late as 2027.

"Flood monitoring has identified some additional mitigation required but this is not considered to be significant by the project," the report said of section two.

And discussing the continued delays to the project, it explained: "Key risks for the scheme remain planning permission (where needed), land negotiations and funding.

"On the latter it is assumed that central government or s106 funding will be available for the later elements of the scheme." 

The county council has already agreed to forward fund £6.6 million in works for the Thickthorn roundabout.

Works at the roundabout are needed due to the hundreds of new houses, school and the industrial site due to be built on Leamington Road.

The money will come from the council's capital investment fund, and the local authority will claim the money back from developers later in the process.

When the forward funding was approved, the council said the roundabout would have traffic lights installed, and the entrances expanded to three lanes.

A new exit may also be added to allow access to the proposed employment land.

Construction of the very first phase of the much-delayed K2L cycleway - in Leamington Spa - is now complete.

The county council approved the near £5 million budget for the K2L scheme in 2020 before giving full approval for the 5km cycleway in January 2021.

County leader Cllr Izzi Seccombe told Nub News in February 2022 the project could be "four to five years" before it was completed.

Meanwhile councillors at KTC have continued to criticise the "glacial pace" of the project.