The Government-ordered review of the national speed limit on all A and B roads has prompted some counties to plan widespread changes, but others to propose few or no new limits.
Warwickshire County Council has completed its review of all its A and B roads and identified a need to reduce the 60mph national speed limit on 78 sections of A and B road, costing £0.9M to implement.
Jo Edwards, senior road safety engineer at Warwickshire, said: ‘Quite a few roads have qualified for new limits, due to the environment, and current speeds.’
The Government circular 1/2006 advises councils to consider 50mph limits on A and B roads, with many bends, junctions and access roads, provided that compliance is likely, because mean speeds are already 50mph.
Where the mean speed criteria has not been met, Warwickshire is proposing engineering measures such as interactive signs or red tarmac to bring speeds down. County officers are currently examining 700 consultation responses. Edwards stressed a ‘balance needs to be struck between the technical findings and the views of the public’. Political support made her ‘confident,’ that most would proceed.
Derbyshire County Council is implementing new 50mph limits along the A53, A54 and A537 to tackle high, but dispersed, accident rates – despite opposition from the police. Other county councils that have reviewed the data also expect changes.
East Sussex is introducing new limits on seven stretches of A road and discussing a further 17 proposed new 40mph or 50mph limits with the police. However, others are not planning significant changes.
Norfolk plans ‘more targeted’ engineering measures instead of new limits, Surrey ‘does not expect widespread changes’ and Oxfordshire’s politicians have capped new limits to four a year. Proposed new limits are also being stymied by opposition.
In one Buckinghamshire area, six out of seven proposed new A road 50mph limits have been dropped following feedback. The Thames Valley Police claimed they were ‘inappropriate’. However, 48 new 30mph limits for Buckinghamshire villages and nine B roads were approved after gaining greater support.
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