Plaid Cymru councillors in Wrexham have welcomed further consideration of exemptions to the current 20mph speed limit in built-up areas - but say the council has u-turned on limits on arterial roads.
"It's now a fortnight since the 20mph speed limit was introduced in urban settings across Wales. Before it was introduced we raised our concerns locally about the fact that every road in Wrexham town, for example, was going down to 20mph when it can be argued that arterial roads such as Cefn Road, Chester Road, Holt Road and Mold Road could be exempted."The experience of the past fortnight bears out that analysis and it's good to hear that the council is now reviewing the situation."We questioned Wrexham Council about their reasoning for these specific arterial routes and the answer given 10 days ago was that some of these key routes into the town centre could at some point have active travel routes alongside them. It's true there are consultations ongoing for active travel routes on Mold Road, Chester Road, Holt Road and Kingsmills Road but the current financial situation facing the Welsh Government makes it unlikely they will all come to fruition. Pre-emptively dropping the speed to 20mph seems to be putting the cart before the horse."So why has the council changed its tune just 10 days later?"
"There was a very brief consultation in August that concluded on September 1st. As a result of that, two roads that were changed down from 30mph to 20mph as a result of residents' pressure but I think we need to continually review this in the light of actual experience of driving and living along these routes. There's general consensus about 20mph being fine on residential streets, estates and outside schools or medical facilities. So that leaves those arterial roads between villages and into town."We've collected a number of examples from across the county borough and will be submitting them to the Highways Department for consideration. Before we do that, we'd like local residents to put forward their suggestions for specific roads - you can do so by contacting plaidwrecsam@gmail.com with full details of those roads."
From: Marc1 Jones <Marc1.Jones@wrexham.gov.uk>
Sent: 20 September 2023 11:34
To: Hugh Jones <Hugh.Jones@wrexham.gov.uk>
Subject: Review of 30mph exemptions on roads
Hi Hugh and XXXXX
Can you update me on the following:
1. How were the 30mph exemptions decided initially within WCBC?
2. What was the outcome of the consultation? As far as I'm aware no changes to the exemptions were made - can you confirm?
3. Some counties have put in as many as 130 exemptions, we have had just nine. To what extent was that dictated by council resources?
4. In light of the introduction of the 20mph default limit, when will speeds be reviewed and some roads be returned to 30mph as evidence emerges?
5. What is the mechanism for proposing roads should return to 30mph?
6. What is the cost for doing so per road (TROs and signage presumably)?
7. Is there any funding from WG to pay for that?
All the best
Marc
Y Cynghorydd / Councillor Marc Jones
Plaid Cymru, Grosvenor
Cyngor Bwrdeistref Sirol Wrecsam / Wrexham County Borough Council
From:
Date: Wednesday, 20 Sep 2023 at 3:56 pm
To: Marc1 Jones <Marc1.Jones@wrexham.gov.uk>
Cc: , Hugh Jones <Hugh.Jones@wrexham.gov.uk>
Subject: RE: Review of 30mph exemptions on roads
Good afternoon Mark.
How were the 30mph exemptions decided initially within WCBC?
The exemptions are all semi-rural roads with very few properties, therefore they were deemed not to be suitable to drop to 20mph.
We did consider keeping the main arterial routes into Wrexham at 30mph, but these are all current or future active travel routes, therefore it would make no sense to keep the speed limit higher on routes that we are actively trying to promote as active travel routes.
The problem is if we move away for a criteria and just start exempting roads based on popular opinion, you will end up with a city with constant speed changes and motorists not knowing what speed they should be traveling at. The whole purpose of having a criteria is that a motorist should know that if they are in a built-up area with a series streetlights then that will now be a 20mph road.
What was the outcome of the consultation? As far as I'm aware no changes to the exemptions were made - can you confirm?
We had 26 TRO’s going to consultation-
We had 55 responses and withdrew two road that were going to stay 30mph, but the residents insisted that they wanted them dropping to 20mph, and gave valid arguments to support their case.
Some counties have put in as many as 130 exemptions, we have had just nine. To what extent was that dictated by council resources?
The number of exemptions had nothing to do with a lack of resource, we made our decisions based on-
In light of the introduction of the 20mph default limit, when will speeds be reviewed and some roads be returned to 30mph as evidence emerges?
Welsh government currently have speed tubes at multiple locations agreed with us and will be sharing the data in the coming months.
Once that data is analysed we can then make a decision on if any further changes are needed.
What is the mechanism for proposing roads should return to 30mph?
Members or residents can contact me to propose a speed change on any road, but there would need to be strong evidence as to why the speed limit needs raising.
What is the cost for doing so per road (TROs and signage presumably)?
A TRO cost around £2000, but that can be reduced if you put it as part of a composite order.
7. Is there any funding from WG to pay for that?
Welsh government has said there will be funding available to make changes.
Regards
Adran Amgylchedd a Chynllunio, De Ffordd yr Abaty, Ystad Ddiwydiannol Wrecsam, Wrecsam, LL13 9PW
Environment and Planning Department, Wrexham County Borough Council, Abbey Road South, Wrexham Industrial Estate, Wrexham, LL13 9PW
wrecsam.gov.uk / wrexham.gov.uk
twitter.com/cbswrecsam / twitter.com/wrexhamcbc
facebook.com/cyngorwrecsam / facebook.com/wrexhamcouncil
From: Marc1 Jones <Marc1.Jones@wrexham.gov.uk>
Sent: 21 September 2023 09:51
To: Jamie Edge <Jamie.Edge@wrexham.gov.uk>
Cc: Rachel Penman <Rachel.Penman@wrexham.gov.uk>
Subject: RE: Review of 30mph exemptions on roads
Thanks for the speedy and comprehensive response.
Just 2 further questions:
1. What were the valid arguments made to drop additional roads to 20mph?
2. What would “strong evidence” involve to change a road’s speed limit?
In conclusion, there are still some signs (eg going out of Coedpoeth towards Wrexham) that say you are now in a 30mph zone. These are confusing for motorists.
All the best - I appreciate it’s a huge task to deal with all the signage and other changes necessary to implement this.
Marc
Afternoon councillor,
1. What were the valid arguments made to drop additional roads to 20mph?
These were roads that needed a TRO to drop, but were right on the criteria borderline as they were semi-rural locations.
The residents made it clear they wanted the speed to drop to 20mph for valid safety concerns, therefore as with any TRO safety is always a priority.
I did get requests for other rural roads to drop to 20mph, but couldn’t justify it given the how few properties were on them.
2. What would “strong evidence” involve to change a road’s speed limit?
There are a number of reasons we may reduce a speed limit-
· Accident data suggesting there is an issue with speeding.
· Speed data providing evidence to back up the accident data.
· The road criteria may have changed because of a housing development.
· A traffic feature such as a roundabout may have been added.
I have never had a request to increase a speed limit (I’m sure I will now), but it would be based on similar principles.
· We would need to look at the accident data at the current speed limit.
· Speed data showing there is no issues at the current speed.
Obviously it would be a lot more difficult to justify increasing a speed limit, as the fact is you will be increasing the chance of an accident, and increasing the chance of a pedestrian dying if they got hit by a vehicle.
If you need anything else let me know.
Kind regards
Adran Amgylchedd a Chynllunio, De Ffordd yr Abaty, Ystad Ddiwydiannol Wrecsam, Wrecsam, LL13 9PW
Environment and Planning Department, Wrexham County Borough Council, Abbey Road South, Wrexham Industrial Estate, Wrexham, LL13 9PW
wrecsam.gov.uk / wrexham.gov.uk
twitter.com/cbswrecsam / twitter.com/wrexhamcbc
facebook.com/cyngorwrecsam / facebook.com/wrexhamcouncil
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