News
Department for Transport enables easier and cheaper town-wide 20mph limits
20's Plenty for Us welcomes the announcement by DfT that it has responded to increasing calls from communities for 20mph speed limits by relaxing the requirements for 20mph speed limit signage.
In a move to remove red-tape and allow local authorities more power to implement 20mph schemes without unnecessary cost and constraints, the DfT has announced new relaxations to allow far more flexible town-wide 20mph schemes.
The changes allow local authorities far more choice in how they indicate 20mph speed limits. These can now be with repeater signs, carriageway roundels or mini-roundabouts. 20mph zones and limits can now be more easily mixed to blend earlier isolated 20mph zones with wide area 20mph limits.
Norman baker, Under Secretary of State for Transport said :-
"I want to end the era of top-down government by providing a radical devolution of power to local authorities and communities. These changes will reduce costs for councils wanting to use 20 mph schemes, allowing them to act faster in response to the needs of their local residents while still ensuring that drivers know what speed they should drive at."
Rod King, Founder and Campaign director for 20's plenty for Us commented :-
"For some time we have been lobbying central government to ease the technical requirements for signage which was very much designed around earlier, isolated 20mph zones. This is an excellent example of how community values and aspirations across the country are nudging government to rethink its rules to enable that change to take place. Our campaign for 20mph speed limits as the default on residential roads has the support of the majority of the electorate.
We now have over 5m people living in towns, villages and counties with a Total 20 policy. The number of new communities wishing to implement this quality-of-life enabling policy is rapidly expanding and we expect this number to double by 2012.
20 really is Plenty where people live and these new changes reflect the success and popularity of this move towards a safer and more pleasant street environment for us all"
20's Plenty For Us campaigns for a 20mph default speed limit in residential streets without physical calming. We welcome comment and feedback.
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