20MPH: Why should communities battle to be heard on this?

Having had a conversation with a neighbour this evening prompted me to write to the Citizen re their article about speed limits being lowered (see letter below). I think we need a completely different approach - all villages, towns and cities should be 20mph unless special cases can be made for faster traffic. Many European towns and cities do just that - these are places people live and work - no wonder we don't have people cycling and walking - it is too scary...

Elsewhere in this Blog you will have seen my arguments re 20mph for most of the roads in this ward. To be fair Highways are constrained to some extent by national legislation but not completely - there is more they can do - and as for the government I fail to understand why they do not act to save lives and make more pleasant communities. The very good news is that it looks like things are moving in our area.....the plans for 20mph around Ruscombe, Bread Street and the centre of Randwick are moving ahead - I suspect all the years of lobbying are starting to pay off - clearly if this goes through then the next stage is to look at The Plain and the main road through Randwick - the interactive sign booked by Whiteshill and Ruscombe Parish will be very useful to make our case.

However we also need to look at how they do the 20mph zones if it gets passed - all that red paint and signage can look dreadful. I also think more could be done to encourage slower traffic - the road for example in parts of Bread Street is very wide and encourages faster traffic - what about extending the verge out further or permeable hard areas ....


There will be few who do not welcome news that speed limits have been lowered in 30 towns and villages in Gloucestershire (14/08/06). But your list shows only Coleford gets a 20mph. Why? When a pedestrian is hit by a car at 40mph they only have a 15% chance of surviving, at 30mph, 55%, but at 20mph the chance of survival increases to 95%.

Hull City Council has reduced child pedestrian injuries by 75% in its 20mph zones. Research also shows lower traffic speeds mean reduced air and noise pollution, less fuel use and help tackling climate change. On urban roads lower speeds have been shown to reduce congestion.

20mph limits are a critical success factor in promoting walking, cycling and public transport as alternatives to the private car. They help create 'living streets' as this is the speed at which drivers can have eye contact with other users of the street. It is the speed at which pedestrians feel more confident about crossing the road, children play outside their homes and it is quiet enough to hold a conversation.

Our record for child safety is the worst in Europe. We are long overdue the time when all our all towns and villages are automatically 20 mph and are properly enforced. Communities should not have to continually battle to be heard on this issue.

Cllr. Philip Booth
Stroud District councillor for the Randwick, Ruscombe and Whiteshill ward,