From Car Park King to Covid Recovery – Leicester’s transformation

UK city Leicester is a shining beacon for active transport, visited by transport officials from throughout Britain and the world to discover the ingredients for its success. 

Leicester City Council’s Active Travel Team Leader, Andy Salkeld, has been central to the city’s transformation and will share a 10-year overview of the progress from car dominance and dependency to people-friendly streets. 

His insights include the value of strong political leadership and generating a mandate for change that consider the economic, social and environmental benefits of people-friendly strategies. 

Andy will explain how the discovery and reinterment of the remains of Richard III, the last UK king to die in battle, stimulated change towards a ‘post-peak-car-tastic' community. 

He will also detail how community events have benefitted from access and travel considerations beyond the car. 

His presentation will describe the implementation of Leicester’s Transformational City agenda and its Street Design Guide.

Andy's presentation will also:

• Provide a summary of the City Mayor’s Connecting Leicester Vision. Indicating the benefit of strong political leadership and generating a mandate for change that consider the economic, social and environmental benefits of people-friendly strategies.
• Illustrates why celebrating football, foxes and community festivals have been enabled by access and travel considerations beyond the car.
• Give context to Leicester’s Covid-19 Transport Recovery Plan, Emergency Active Travel response to the crisis, experiences of Bike Aid, Key Worker Corridors and Low Traffic Neighbourhood actions.
• Explore the arrival of the national government's ‘Gear Change’ & ‘Active Travel England’.