Wales in 20mph speed limit U-turn
Fri, 26 Apr 2024
The Welsh government is to revert some roads back to their original 30mph speed limit after admitting problems with its blanket 20mph limit on residential roads.
"We’ve put our hands up to say the guidance has to be corrected," said new transport secretary Ken Skates.
The default 20mph policy, which so far has cost £34 million, was introduced in September 2023. It was part of the ruling Labour party’s 2021 manifesto for the Senedd parliament election.
However, a petition calling for the limit to be scrapped quickly became the most-signed petition on the Senedd’s website, with almost half a million signatures.
Ken Skates was put in charge of transport for Wales on 21 March after Vaughan Gething succeeded Mark Drakeford as first minister. He replaced former transport minister Lee Waters.
"There is generally universal support for 20mph being targeted in areas where there are schools, built-up areas like housing estates, and outside hospitals," he told North Wales Live last week. "But in many areas, routes that shouldn’t have been included, were."
The changes will now allow individual councils to revert routes back to 30mph 'where appropriate'. Public consultations will begin now and the process of raising limits will start in September.
All costs involved will be met by the Welsh government, not by local councils.
"This decision will please a great many drivers in Wales but it’s a shame so many roads that should have always remained at 30mph were unnecessarily converted to 20mph," says RAC road safety spokesperson Rod Dennis.
AA president Edmund King says that members "supported targeted 20mph limits where they are needed on safety grounds, such as outside schools… in these circumstances, drivers understand why the limits are there so are more likely to adhere to them."
Last year, the Welsh government revealed that 8062 miles of roads are 20mph, while 608 miles have 30mph limits.
Does cruise control work at 20mph?
