Speed limits for key routes in central London could be cut to 20mph under plans announced by Transport for London (TfL) and mayor Sadiq Khan.
The TfL red routes in central London, including Victoria Embankment and Upper and Lower Thames Street, would be cut to 20mph by 2020 under plans set out in a public consultation launched on Wednesday.
The move is part of London's Vision Zero Plan for road safety. Figures from 2016, 2017 and 2018 (provisional) suggest 128 people were killed in speed-related collisions on London’s streets.
A further 2,256 people were reported as seriously injured in collisions where speed was recorded as a contributory factor.
Source: TfL
Click here to see a map of the routes included in phase one of the plan.
The strategy
The lower speed limits would be rolled-out under a phased approach with an emphasis on delivering self-enforcing speed limits. TfL would 'evaluate the effectiveness of the measures first and understand whether additional changes are needed to achieve lower speeds'.
There will also be research into the impact of different gradients and designs of raised crossings to assess the impact on passengers in vehicles, including buses and ambulances, which could inform detailed designs and future programmes.
In phase one, TfL's red routes within central London will have a speed limit of 20mph by 2020.
Under phase two, speed limits will be lowered on a further 140 kilometres of the road network in inner and outer London, including on the inner ring road, high-risk roads and roads in town centres. This would lower limits along some roads from 50mph to 40mph, or from 40mph to 30mph, in addition to introducing areas of 20mph where appropriate.
Traffic calming and enforcement measures
Design and engineering measures that will be used include signs, road markings, raising pedestrian crossings, raised tables and removing the white line in the centre of a road.
Specifically, TfL suggested installing signs and road markings on all routes and raising pedestrian crossings 'in seven locations where clusters of collisions, that led to someone being killed of seriously injured, have occurred and where there are high volumes of people walking'.
The authority could also recalibrate all existing speed cameras in central London to enforce 20mph speed limits instead of 30mph.
The Metropolitan Police enforce all speed limits in London using on-street officers, mobile speed cameras and fixed speed cameras. In 2017/18, 155,729 people were processed for speeding related offences, including 42,771 on 20mph limit roads.
Which roads are included?
Phase 1 includes the following roads within central London that TfL operates and manages, except those that already have a 20mph speed limit. This includes:
- Albert Embankment
- Lambeth Palace Road
- Lambeth Bridge
- Millbank
- Victoria Embankment
- Upper Thames Street
- Lower Thames Street
- Tower Hill
- Aldgate gyratory including: Leman Street, Prescot Street, Mansell Street, Minories and Goodman’s Yard
- Borough High Street
- Great Dover Street
- Blackfriars Road
- Part of Druid Street (between Tower Bridge Road and Crucifix Lane)
- Crucifix Lane
- Part of Bermondsey Street (between Crucifix Lane and Tooley Street)
- Part of Queen Elizabeth Street (between Tooley Street and Tower Bridge Road)
Other TfL projects will reduce the speed limit to 20mph on the following roads within central London:
- Tooley Street Healthy Streets project: Part of Tooley Street (between Borough High Street and Tower Bridge Road)
- Elephant and Castle 20mph project: Elephant and Castle Roundabout, St George’s Circus Roundabout, St George’s Road (from Elephant and Castle to the junction with Westminster Bridge Road), Westminster Bridge Road (from St George’s Circus to the junction with St George’s Road) and London Road (from St George’s Circus to Elephant and Castle)
The following TfL roads in central London already have a speed limit of 20mph:
- Bishopsgate
- Farringdon Street
- Farringdon Road
- King’s Cross Road
- Westminster Bridge
- York Road
- Stamford Street
- Southwark Street
- St Thomas Street
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