We develop transport policy and plans that deliver national, regional and local objectives and provide the most benefit to the people of Leicestershire.
We also undertake transport studies, promote transport schemes and submit bids for transport funding to deliver schemes.
Local Transport Plan
Our Local Transport Plan sets out our vision for transport. It explains how we will ensure that transport continues to play an important part in Leicestershire's success.
Other related documents
Leicester and Leicestershire Strategic Transport Priorities (LLSTP)
This Leicester and Leicestershire Strategic Transport Priorities (LLSTP) document has been prepared by Leicestershire County Council and Leicester City Council. It was approved by the County Council’s Cabinet on 20 November 2020.
The LLSTP outlines the key long-term transport priorities that will support the future development and prosperity of Leicester and Leicestershire. It highlights where the two transport authorities will work together to deliver common transport aims and objectives. This will support the delivery of growth in ways that seek to improve connectivity, reduce congestion and minimise environmental impacts.
The LLSTP will provide a transparent framework for determining decisions on key long-term transport priorities, ensure cross-boundary co-ordination and build on the effective partnership and joint work that is undertaken with Leicester City Council.
Transport policy and plans
Road Safety Strategy
A Road Safety Strategy for Leicestershire has been developed. It sets out what we're doing in Leicestershire to continue to improve road safety and reduce road collisions and casualties. The Strategy supports the government’s road safety objectives, along with wider national and local objectives. A summary document of the strategy is also available.
Network and Highway Asset Management
The Network Management Policy and Strategy provides the policy and legal framework and sets out our strategic approach to network management:
The Network Management Plan describes in more detail the range of activities the council will continue to undertake to manage the network in practice:
Highway Asset Management policy and strategy
Market Harborough Transport Strategy
The Market Harborough Transport Strategy focuses on enabling the delivery of growth, as set out in the Harborough Local Plan.
Harborough District Council is currently preparing a new Local Plan and transport evidence is being prepared to underpin it. The outcomes of the evidence work will be used to inform whether and how the Strategy is to be developed further, or whether it is to be replaced by something else.
Notwithstanding the above, the current strategy, together with an updated evidence base, is being used to inform the development of the Market Harborough Multi Modal Area Investment Plan (MMAIP).
Market Harborough Transport Strategy
Interim Coalville Transport Strategy
The Interim Coalville Transport Strategy (ICTS) focused primarily on the Major Road Network project and the importance of it to deliver growth on the A511 corridor, as set out in the North West Leicestershire Local Plan 2011 to 2031.
North West Leicestershire District Council is currently preparing a new Local Plan and transport evidence is being prepared to underpin it. The outcomes of the evidence work will be used to inform whether and how the ICTS is to be developed further, or whether it is to be replaced by something else.
Interim Melton Mowbray Transport Strategy
We have committed to developing a transport strategy for Melton Mowbray, to support growth and maximise economic, environmental and health opportunities for the town. It will identify future transport investment that is needed to support the Melton Local Plan (2011- 2036), which guides land use and development across Melton.
The full strategy will take several years to complete, as there are a number of further pieces of work that need to be undertaken. In the meantime, this interim version of the strategy has been produced to guide the delivery of early priority measures, including the Melton Mowbray Distributor Road (MMDR).
Workstream 3 of the interim strategy recognises the need for a holistic plan for future passenger transport services within the town to accommodate and maximise the benefits of the town’s planned growth. A study, available below, has been undertaken to better understand and evidence the ambition of the interim strategy and provide a basis for funding such a network. This document forms an addendum to the main document and should be read in conjunction with the interim strategy.
For more information about the MMDR, see North and East Melton Mowbray Distributor Road Scheme.
Cycling and Walking Strategy (CaWS)
The Cycling and Walking Strategy for Leicestershire will help us to support people across the county to make more sustainable travel choices, with a vison for Leicestershire to become a county where walking and cycling are safe, accessible and obvious choices for short journeys and a natural part of longer journeys, helping to deliver healthier, greener communities by reducing congestion, and improving air quality, health and wellbeing.
The Action Plan sets out the practical actions that are being taken to help deliver the strategy over the short, medium and long term. It will be updated annually to take account of funding availability, changes to national guidance, priorities and any changes to delivery of proposals.
Active Travel England – Local Authority Self-Assessments
Active Travel England (ATE) is the Government’s executive agency responsible for allocating funding to Local Authorities toward making walking, wheeling, and cycling the preferred choice for everyone to get around in England.
In 2022 Active Travel England asked all of England’s councils to assess their ability to deliver on all things active travel against a new set of criteria, and on a scale of 0-4 (with 4 being the best ranking) with expectation the majority of councils to be at level 1. The assessment ask councils to rate themselves against a set of criteria including:
- Local leadership and support for active travel
- Maturity of Local Cycling and Walking Improvement Plan (LCWIP) development
- Active travel schemes delivered
Active Travel England require assessments to be undertaken annually to track progress and are used to inform funding allocations and relevant support for authorities.
Despite the evidence that the County Council submitted in respect of the work it was doing to develop LCWIPs, Leicestershire County Council’s 2022 score was assessed by ATE as being level 0. Two criteria were identified where the authority scored lower than 1, these were:
- Local leadership and support for active travel
The score given was in essence due to not having delivered sufficient complex active travel schemes in compliance with latest national design guidance LTN-1/20 to enable local councillors to support and promote to communities. - Active travel schemes delivered
The score given was largely as a result of limited capital funding availability since publication of LTN-1/20 guidance enabling compliant complex active travel scheme delivery
Since the original 2022 assessment, Leicestershire County Council through ongoing positive collaboration with Active Travel England have continued to build capability and advance complex active travel scheme delivery, subject to the availability of funding.
In 2024 Leicestershire County Council achieved a level 1 rating.
A key part of this success is the dedication and commitment from Active Travel England staff working with the council’s equally dedicated officers, while engaging with elected Members directly and also with our communities through the council’s active travel forum. Increasing the council’s capability rating to a 1 is a direct result of this positive collaborative working and joint funding commitments from the council and Active Travel England, representing a real success story. We will continue to build on this success, in collaboration with Active Travel England, towards encouraging and enabling our communities to travel actively.
Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs)
A key action set out in the Cycling and Walking Strategy plans is to develop Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs) for areas in Leicestershire. The council is currently developing several LCWIPs to set out the vision and priorities for cycling and walking improvements in each of the areas, to create convenient and practical cycling and walking networks to help and encourage people to travel more sustainably.
View our Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plans (LCWIPs)
Find more information about cycling and walking in Leicestershire.
Rights of Way
Leicestershire Rail Strategy
Leicester and Leicestershire Rail Strategy
We will be undertaking a refresh of the rail strategy in Autumn 2025. Subject to approval, it is anticipated that a new rail strategy will be published in 2027.
Leicester and Leicestershire Rail Strategy
Passenger Transport
Leicestershire County Council continues to recognise the important role that passenger transport services can play in keeping people and places connected, especially in a rural county such as Leicestershire, and in reducing private car travel to help cut congestion and limit emissions.
Facilitating and supporting an appropriate mix of services, working with communities and commercial and 3rd sector operators, remains a key aim for the council. Set against the national backdrop and of the authority’s challenging funding situation, we will continue to seek to:
- meet statutory requirements
- help Leicestershire County Council deliver on its strategic priorities and outcomes
- support the people of Leicestershire in accessing key services
Our Passenger Transport Policy and the associated Passenger Transport Strategy (PTPS) were updated in December 2023, responding to the Government’s National Bus Strategy, local context and funding levels. Our updated PTPS enables the Council to continue to support our communities and commercial bus operators, in providing a more resilient and secure passenger transport network.
The PTPS provides a valuable overview of where the council sees its role in helping deliver passenger transport services, what its broad priorities are in doing so, and how it will deliver on those priorities working in collaboration with other parties, including through our Enhanced Partnership (EP) with commercial bus operators operating in Leicestershire.
Enhanced Partnership Plan and Scheme
In support of the Governments National Bus Strategy ‘Bus Back Better’ published in March 2021, the council adopted its Bus Service Improvement Plan (BSIP) and entered into an Enhanced Partnership (EP) with commercial bus operators operating in Leicestershire. The BSIP and EP continues to set out our ambitions and commitment to improving passenger transport provision in Leicestershire in support of our communities.
View further information on passenger transport.
Transport studies
We carry out transport studies to help inform our future approach to transport. This can include work to:
- Assess the impact of housing growth and improve our understanding of how the growing population could affect the transport network
- Evaluate transport issues and possible solutions
- Identify the causes of congestion and potential ways to reduce it
- Assess whether there’s a case to invest in new transportation measures.
Melton Mowbray transport strategy
Melton will see considerable amounts of growth in the coming years. Previous road improvements have helped with traffic, but there are still problems which are slowing the town’s growth.
A transport strategy is needed to help support the town’s growth.
View further information on the Melton Mowbray distributor road scheme.
Transport - Prospectus for growth
It is important for everyone that the economy of Leicester and Leicestershire, the Midlands and the rest of the UK remains strong. We have ambitious plans to support this.
The Prospectus for Growth summarises the benefits for Government investment in key transport infrastructure serving the Midlands.
Transport projects – promotion
A series of leaflets, which promote key strategic transport infrastructure that will support economic growth, have been produced. A brief summary is provided below.
Key to Growth - HS2
The Key to Growth leaflet, which was published in 2016, highlighted the overwhelming economic case for providing a rail link between HS2 and the Midland Mainline at Toton station.
Unlocking Growth
The Unlocking growth leaflet, which was published in 2016, highlighted the overwhelming economic case for investing in the Midlands.
View further information about HS2.
Transport - bids for funding
We have a strong track record of successfully bidding for external funding. Between 2014 and February 2019 over £120 million was successfully secured to invest in supporting growth and improving the county’s transport infrastructure.
Some of the national funding opportunities are set out below.
Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF)
The Housing Infrastructure Fund is a government programme that aims to help to deliver up to 100,000 new homes in England. Funding is awarded to local authorities on a highly competitive basis, providing capital grant funding for new infrastructure that will unlock new homes in the areas of greatest housing demand.
Highway Maintenance Challenge Fund
The purpose of this Department for Transport (DfT) fund is to enable local authorities to bid for major maintenance projects that are difficult to fund through other channels.
In 2019 a £198 million national fund was announced, split over two financial years.
On 31 October 2019 we submitted two bids to the Department for Transport (DfT) for funding from the Challenge Fund.
It is anticipated that the DfT will announce its decision in Winter 2019.
Local Pinch Point
The purpose of this DfT fund is to help address congestion pinch points, reducing congestion on local roads. The fund aims to support economic growth, by tackling barriers on the local highway network that may be restricting the movement of goods and people.
In 2019 it was announced that £150 million funding was available - £75 million in each financial year 2021 to 2022 and 2022 to 2023.
National Productivity Investment Fund (NPIF)
The government’s introduced this fund to target areas that were critical for productivity: housing; research & development (R&D) and economic infrastructure.
We are currently preparing a transport project in Hinckley that NPIF is helping to fund. View further information on the Rugby Road and Hinckley town centre improvement scheme.
Growth and Housing Fund (GHF)
National Highways’ Growth and Housing Fund aimed to bridge funding shortfalls in highways schemes that had stalled. The fund was specifically targeted at mature local highways schemes that could both deliver improvement works on the ground and enable the delivery of jobs and homes wherever possible.
We are currently delivering two transport projects that GHF is helping to fund: