Monmouthshire: No 20mph roads to return to 30mph, council says
A council has rejected calls to raise the default 20mph speed limit on a number of roads in Monmouthshire.Monmouthshire council said it had conducted a comprehensive review of 20mph speed limits after residents flagged up 143 roads where they felt a return to the 30mph limit was more appropriate.Four roads were selected to be reassessed, with the authority concluding the lower speed limits should remain in place.Announcing the decision Catrin Maby, Monmouthshire council's cabinet member for climate change and the environment, said: "The council's top priority is the safety of all our residents and visitors."
"The reassessment concluded that all roads changed to a 20mph speed limit will remain at that limit," she added.Monmouthshire council said it selected four roads for reassessment - the B4245 through Magor, Undy, Rogiet, and Caldicot, Hereford Road in Abergavenny, the A4143 in Abergavenny and the A4077 Abergavenny Road and Cae Meldon in Gilwern.It said these roads had been reassessed against the Welsh government's updated guidance, which reiterated the importance of keeping vulnerable road users such as pedestrians and cyclists safe, while taking into account the road characteristics.Nearly 1,500 responses were received from residents in Monmouthshire during the consultation.
A review of the 20mph speed limit was announced by the Welsh government after significant public backlash.Transport Minister Ken Skates previously said the decision to reverse parts of the controversial £34m default 20mph policy was in response to "consistent" concerns raised by "a lot of people".Updated guidance given to councils said there was no need to reassess all roads.
The announcement by Monmouthshire council comes after Wrexham council approved plans for the speed limit to be raised back from 20mph to 30mph on more than 50 stretches of road.The authority's executive board considered the results of a consultation in which 93% of respondents were in favour of returning road speeds to 30mph.Following the conclusion of the Wrexham consultation, the campaign group "20's Plenty For Us" wrote on X: "Is that really a difficult decision? Saving children from death and injury or appeasing a few motorists."There are serious matters of life and death to be considered."The Welsh government said it expected most changes from 20mph to 30mph to be on A and B roads "which are typically main or strategic roads" and "away from places that attract frequent pedestrians".The new guidance came after a Senedd petition opposing the lower speed limit reached nearly 470,000 signatures - the most ever.Demonstrations also took place, with protesters brandishing placards and banners.The Welsh government switched the default speed limit on mainly urban roads on 17 September 2023 and, with some exemptions, most 30mph roads became 20mph.Data for the first year of the policy showed there had been about 100 fewer people killed or seriously injured on 20 and 30mph roads.
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