Shopkeepers say £3m upgrade has not improved street

Shopkeepers say a multi-million pounds upgrade on their street has not improved their area and say "nothing has changed".

Work on a £3.4m refurbishment of a section of Lincoln Road in Peterborough was completed in February.

The revamp - in the area between Windmill Street and Searjeant Street - began in April 2025 and included new widened pavements, a new pedestrian crossing, cycle parking, benches, and bins.

Peterborough City Council described the scheme as having "a positive effect" and it had made the road safer for people using it.

Shopper Heather Matzk said the road looked "much better" than it did before, adding: "People are spending a lot of money opening businesses in this area and it's pulling it up. It looks really nice.

"In Cambridge, they celebrate Mill Road for its diversity and I think Peterborough needs to do the same."

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Shop owner Krzysztof Krol said he was grateful for the improvements but said rough sleeping had worsened in the area.

Hussain, who did not want to give his surname, has run a clothes shop for several years and said his business had been worse off since the road reopened.

"Business has been very hard this year," he told the Local Democracy Reporting Service. "The biggest problems here are drug users and the homeless."

Speaking of footfall, he added: "The last two to three years it keeps going down and down and this year it is the worst year. It is not very busy."

Peterborough resident Paul Smith, who was making use of the new seating installed on the pavement, said he felt the road had been "less busy" in recent months.

The works were completed after more than £3.4m of funding was secured, including a £2.4m contribution from the government's Towns Fund.

The city council described the scheme as having "a positive effect, improving safety for motorists and pedestrians in a busy area that has a high volume of traffic".

A spokesperson added: "However, we are aware of concerns around littering and staining of some pavements and are currently in the process of arranging for these areas to be cleaned.

"We would also urge residents to report any concerns around rough sleeping and littering to us, or any criminal activity to the police."

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