20 MPH zones could be introduced in Brighton and Hove next year (From The Argus)
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20 MPH zones could be introduced in Brighton and Hove next year
3:32pm Monday 13th June 2011 in News By Rebecca Evans
20MPH zones could be introduced across Brighton and Hove as early as next year to try to reduce road accidents.
Brighton and Hove City Council said speed limit reduction was a “high priority” and is planning to look at where they can force drivers to slow down after the Government announced it would cut restrictions on the use of 20mph limits.
Green councillors are to meet with council officials to draw up proposals for which areas should be looked at first.
Ian Davey, the council’s cabinet member for transport, said he did not want a blanket 20mph limit across the city but that whole areas, rather than individual streets, would be affected.
He suggested the first to be looked at would be the city centre.
Residents in other parts of Brighton and Hove would then be consulted on whether they want their area to be a 20mph zone.
Coun Davey said: “People across the city are calling for the streets where they live to be made safer.
“The most effective way to do this is to reduce the speed limit from 30mph to 20mph on residential streets.
“We could just go in somewhere and make it 20mph but I don’t think that’s the way to do it.
“It needs to be done with cooperation with local communities.
“It needs to be planned and done properly.
“Demand from communities for safer streets is overwhelming.
“There is no way we can respond only with a piecemeal approach.
“We need to do it strategically.”
Accident figures for the city reveal 194 pedestrians, including 87 children, were hurt in road crashes in 2009, the latest statistics available.
There are campaigns for 20mph schemes to be set up in Worthing and Lewes as well as Brighton and Hove.
Last week Transport Minister and Lewes MP Norman Baker announced changes which will allow local authorities to introduce 20mph signs more easily.
Councils will be able to paint speed limits on road surfaces rather than installing more expensive signs.
They would not need to install speed humps in such areas, could introduce variable limits around schools and would not need to get Government permission for further 20mph zones.
Mr Baker said: “They should be able to do so without spending time and money satisfying unnecessary Whitehall diktats.
"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.”
Speed campaigners welcomed the news.
Rod King, founder and campaign director for 20’s Plenty for Us, said: “These new changes reflect the success and popularity of this move towards a safer and more pleasant street environment for us all.”
Cyclist Joe Newbigin, 25, from Brighton, said: “The idea of imposing a 20mph speed limit would be widely welcomed among cyclists.
“The Green council is much more favourable to influencing laws.”
Last year a council report recommended introducing traffic lights designed to switch to red when a driver goes over 20mph.
It also recommended targeting 20mph limits at roads with schools, playgrounds or nursing homes rather than a blanket speed limit.
Labour group leader Gill Mitchell said priority should be given to residential areas close to main roads that are used as rat-runs.
However she warned that signs alone would not deter some drivers from speeding – and that policing the zones could be difficult.
Brighton and Hove Bus Company has also warned widespread restrictions could a city-wide limit would affect timetables and ticket prices.
Geoffrey Theobald, Conservative group leader, said: “We welcome anything which allows local authorities to make more decisions themselves.
“To have a blanket 20mph zone would not be accepted by the vast majority of people in this city.”
Comments(31)
graham_Seagull
says...
4:03pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Bob_The_Ferret wrote:Methinks the last 30 years have been a war on pedestrians and anyone else who doesnt drive a car - its about time there was a change to prioritising people and cycles in the right areas of town - well done the council for listening.
Let the war on the motorist begin!
How come car drivers often desire their local streets to be safer, their kids to cycle to school safely, their partners to not have to cross lines of speeding traffic, but want to deny other people the same rights?
Barry Trotter
says...
4:09pm Mon 13 Jun 11
steveP2009
says...
4:10pm Mon 13 Jun 11
I know this will never happen as the council won't spend the money. Look of the state of the railings around the seafront. Haven't been looked after for decades. The seafront between the peir and marina is a disgrace and looking more derelict Margate than anything else. Rusty, dirty, broken mouldy wood...enforcing a 20mph is a 'cheap and quick' way to make them look like they are doing something.
Hove Actually
says...
4:12pm Mon 13 Jun 11
As he drove through a red light at 25mph.......
Masterchav
says...
4:47pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Is it really worth spending all that money? And does it REALLY have, as Cllr Davey claims, "overwhelming support"?
Let's waste a million quid on a referendum and find out.... oh there's no money....
boblat
says...
4:50pm Mon 13 Jun 11
boblat
says...
4:50pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Number Six
says...
4:59pm Mon 13 Jun 11
joebie sussex
says...
6:03pm Mon 13 Jun 11
TheInsider
says...
6:59pm Mon 13 Jun 11
The 20mph zone in the Coombe Road area is a race track as motorists battle to beat each other get through the speed chicanes.
Perhaps a campaign to get people to take their Ipods out of their ears would be money better spent.
If people walk in the road and get knocked down it's their own fault.
nocando
says...
7:18pm Mon 13 Jun 11
I'd be interested to know if they plan to use non slip paint for these signs or will they be creating more booby traps for motorcyclists on rainy days like they have by painting huge signs on the road by schools. Hit one of those in the wet and its like being on ice, you can't steer or brake while you're on them without sliding. Pretty lethal for a so called safety measure. .
Spx
says...
7:19pm Mon 13 Jun 11
TheInsider
says...
7:33pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Have you been through a 20mph zone?
s&k
says...
8:14pm Mon 13 Jun 11
sdhgfhfuyt
says...
8:36pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Spx wrote:The 20 mph zone has been around coombe road area for years; is it safer in theory? yes. Do any people pay attention to it? No. I have entered Milner road at speeds of up to 26 mph without ever having a motoring infraction recorded.
20 mph changes the environment. Calm, less noise and safe. The sooner it's implemented the better, and as previous posts suggest, as soon as you get to Brighton forget going anywhere fast!
TheInsider
says...
8:39pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Full time cameras or higher humps are the only answer.
paul76
says...
8:51pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Out of centre areas should be left as they are. It takes long enough to get anywhere as it is.
And has everyone missed the comment from the buses "Brighton and Hove Bus Company has also warned a city-wide limit would affect timetables and ticket prices."
Likely to mean they are going to go up. How are buses travelling slower going to mean higher ticket prices in what is already a rip off price. I can run my scooter for cheaper a year than it would cost to buy a bus ticket.
sdhgfhfuyt
says...
9:30pm Mon 13 Jun 11
paul76 wrote:Roger French is just looking for unused excuses i would say- it won't be long before he is using the declining number of altercations on buses (due to pricing out the scum) as a selling point.
20mph limits will be a waste of time. Traffic on the seafront never does more than that in rush hour or summer time saturdays and sundays.
Out of centre areas should be left as they are. It takes long enough to get anywhere as it is.
And has everyone missed the comment from the buses "Brighton and Hove Bus Company has also warned a city-wide limit would affect timetables and ticket prices."
Likely to mean they are going to go up. How are buses travelling slower going to mean higher ticket prices in what is already a rip off price. I can run my scooter for cheaper a year than it would cost to buy a bus ticket.
Metro Reader
says...
10:53pm Mon 13 Jun 11
Last night, I saw 3 sets of 'families' on western road, older mum and dad, way in front and Orange Rose Bud (age 3-4) walking BEHIND alone.
That is what needs to be addresses, not the constant attack attack attack on the drivers of this, soon to be back water.
BeachedBum
says...
11:25pm Mon 13 Jun 11
s.org.uk/Busting_the
_myths.htm
Just a shame the council's taking a piecemeal approach - why should some residents get the benefits but not others? It would be cheaper and better for everyone to make 20mph the default limit for all residential streets!
teifion
says...
6:58am Tue 14 Jun 11
graham_Seagull wrote:Blimey, the ecoterrorists just love turning the truth on its head - War is Peace etc just like 1984- car drivers have been treated like criminals for 30years.
Bob_The_Ferret wrote: Let the war on the motorist begin!Methinks the last 30 years have been a war on pedestrians and anyone else who doesnt drive a car - its about time there was a change to prioritising people and cycles in the right areas of town - well done the council for listening. How come car drivers often desire their local streets to be safer, their kids to cycle to school safely, their partners to not have to cross lines of speeding traffic, but want to deny other people the same rights?
Caroline Lucas supports the legalisation of drugs and the criminalisation of drivers - amazing
To be positive I'd LOVE to be able to drive at 20MPH in Brighton ;-)
voiceofthescoombe
says...
10:34am Tue 14 Jun 11
you just don't get driving cars into citys
when everybody else does the same noone moves very fast.
but sit in your metal box for your 5 mile trip I will cycle past and try not to laugh too much.
graham_Seagull
says...
11:44am Tue 14 Jun 11
teifion wrote:uuummm....no.
graham_Seagull wrote:Blimey, the ecoterrorists just love turning the truth on its head - War is Peace etc just like 1984- car drivers have been treated like criminals for 30years. Caroline Lucas supports the legalisation of drugs and the criminalisation of drivers - amazing To be positive I'd LOVE to be able to drive at 20MPH in Brighton ;-)Bob_The_Ferret wrote: Let the war on the motorist begin!Methinks the last 30 years have been a war on pedestrians and anyone else who doesnt drive a car - its about time there was a change to prioritising people and cycles in the right areas of town - well done the council for listening. How come car drivers often desire their local streets to be safer, their kids to cycle to school safely, their partners to not have to cross lines of speeding traffic, but want to deny other people the same rights?
The cost of all other forms of transport (trains, buses etc) have increased at a much higher rate than cars over the last 30 years, and that my friend is a fact. OK it may not seem like it but that is certainly the case as borne out by govt research.
Also worth pointing out the true cost of motoring (i.e. environmental impact) is not reflected in the taxes paid....so um, well, no. You haven't really got much of a hope of winning this one.
Plus me, ecoterrorist? nope. I'm a director of a local company actually.
taxidiy
says...
12:01pm Tue 14 Jun 11
voiceofthescoombe wrote:so when you jet off on holiday you put your cases on your bike to get to the station or Pool Valley? No you get a cab or bus or get a friend with a CAR to take you, then you are stuck in the same traffic as the rest of us! Unless,like the Greens, you would like us all to go back to the 19th century! It is not going to happen so get a life and live it,you only get one!
hmm motorists complaining about being stuck in traffic:)
you just don't get driving cars into citys
when everybody else does the same noone moves very fast.
but sit in your metal box for your 5 mile trip I will cycle past and try not to laugh too much.
Granny
says...
2:00pm Tue 14 Jun 11
Morpheus
says...
6:19pm Tue 14 Jun 11
gingersandy38
says...
8:19pm Tue 14 Jun 11
CookPassBabtridge
says...
11:04pm Tue 14 Jun 11
TBH, 30mph is unlikely at most times in Brighton, so any change would be largely academic anyway.
Old Ladys Gin
says...
1:03pm Wed 15 Jun 11
Plus, many many more pedestrian crossings (not the posh pelican type, just plain road markings) pedestrian priority as a blanket measure, and a few more things.
This will be to bring us in line with neighbouring countries and as part of a ten year (2010 - 2020) plan to reduce the casualties among the most vulnerable road users, pedestrians, cyclists and motorbikes, by at least 50 percent (the same as has been done for car/van/lorry drives in the last ten years).
The initiative is a joint one between the United Nations and the European Union.
My advice would be to start to put it into practice now - and get used to it because it is going to happen.
And yes, it is perfectly possible to have radar speed traps in a 20 mph zone. It is done regularly with concealed cameras in both Germany and Spain to my knowledge; probably elsewhere as well.
fred clause
says...
11:03am Sat 18 Jun 11
voiceofthescoombe wrote:As you ride through that red light like all the othet cyclists.
hmm motorists complaining about being stuck in traffic:)
you just don't get driving cars into citys
when everybody else does the same noone moves very fast.
but sit in your metal box for your 5 mile trip I will cycle past and try not to laugh too much.
Bob_The_Ferret says...
3:55pm Mon 13 Jun 11