The report on proposed City wide 20 mph speed limit has now been published. It can be found here. http://tinyurl.com/York-20-mph

Residents wishing to submit written representations – or who wish to register to speak at the meeting – only have until 12:00 noon on Monday 21 May to do so (Email – laura.bootland@york.gov.uk).

The report confirms an intention to implement a 20 mph speed limit across western York over the next year. Some major roads including Wetherby Road and Tadcaster Road might be excluded from the restriction. Local streets which form the majority of the residential road network will be included in the roll out. All other classifications, A, B and minor roads, which form the more strategic or through routes will generally be excluded.

20 mph signs would be erected at the entrance to each street with repeater signs every 300 metres. The costs of the scheme are put at £500,000 with an extra £100,000 allocated for more traffic calming.
The Council intend to recruit a “20 mph project manager”

Council officials claim that, “20mph speed limits can reduce average speeds by 1-2 miles per hour where the average speed before introduction is 24mph or below. Where average speeds are higher than 24mph the reductions can be greater (6-7mph) but may still not reduce average speeds to 20-24mph”.

The Labour Council has confirmed that the aim of the change is not principally to reduce accidents (which occur mainly on A roads and in the city centre anyway). Instead it is aimed at “improving the local environment for residents; promoting more considerate driving and increasing confidence about safety on York’s streets rather than accident reduction”.

The Police have not objected to the plan as they have been told that average speeds in “residential areas” are already below 24 mph and the change may only reduce the average by a further 1 mph (making enforcement unnecessary).

On busier main roads it has been revealed that over 60% of drivers are exceeding the 20 mph speed limit outside the Fishergate school bringing into further question the likely effectiveness off the new limit. The report says, “prior to the introduction of the 20mph speed limit 7.9% of vehicles exceeded the speed limit southbound outside Fishergate Primary School. This figure now stands at 66.7%”.
The report fails to indentify how the success of the initiative will be judged. A map showing the road network – and hence which roads may be excluded from the new limits – is pointedly excluded from the Council report. A trial of a large area 20 mph zone – which was agreed for introduction in the South Bank area 2 years ago – has still not been implemented. It appears that the Council now intend to adopt a policy for change without the benefits of knowing what the results of this trial are.

Annex C to the report includes a comprehensive critique of the proposals prepared by the Liberal Democrat Group. It points out that diverting enforcement resources away from roads which have a proven accident risk would be reckless, that increased pollution from slow moving vehicles can be expected together with worse fuel economy and that, elsewhere in the country, the new speed limit has produced little change in the numbers cycling and walking in the streets affected.