We hope you will find the necessary information to make an informed judgement about whether 20 mph limits are a "good thing" for Stoke Golding. These are some of the questions we have heard when talking to others. You may also like to look at this previous post which makes the case http://sgstreets.blogspot.co.uk/2012/09/20s-plenty-campaign-launched.html
You will also find further reading here ... http://sgstreets.blogspot.co.uk/p/20-mph-reading.html
Why?
Why do you want to do this?
Our long term aim is that we want our streets to be a pleasant
environment where we feel safe and where we can live, play and socialise. We
want to be able to travel on foot or by bike if we choose. Calming traffic
speed is crucial to this long term aim. Lower speeds have been shown to reduce
accidents (and their severity) and at the same time they make for a more
pleasant environment.
Will a 20mph speed limit make
any difference?
This we know is a big challenge as it is about behaviours and culture as
enforcement is very difficult. As more and more 20mph limits are introduced
across the country it will start to become normal behaviour, but this will take
time. In the short term, evidence in other areas shows signing alone will
reduce average speeds but perhaps by 5 or 6 mph rather than 10 mph. We aim to
support implementation with an awareness and education campaign – we are hopeful that we can persuade most local residents to drive at this speed.
Why Stoke Golding?
Stoke Golding is increasingly becoming a “rat run” particularly during
the rush hours (you only have to look at Hinckley Road Station Road
Why now?
Recent changes to government guidance and legislation make it much
easier to implement 20 mph limits. The tide is turning and 20 mph will start to
become the norm where people live. We want to make sure that Stoke Golding is
at the front of the queue.
Where can I find out more information?
There is a lot of good information on the internet. The “20s is plenty
for us” website is a good place to start. We have tried to pull together what
we consider to be some of the better references on our blog here
Implementation
Do you have the support of
the Parish Council and Leicestershire Highways?
We have spoken to the Parish Council on more than one occasion. They
want to see that there is a mandate for this in the village. They are
supportive of us carrying out the survey and have given an undertaking to
listen to the views expressed by residents. We have also spoken to our County
Councillor Ivan Ould who takes a similar position.
At this stage we have not spoken to Highways as we want to do this from
a position of strength (i.e. with a mandate). We expect resistance, but mostly
about funding . We will point out to them that government guidance asks them to
consider implementing 20mph limits where people live, and we will want to
explore ways in which implementation might be achieved.
How do you implement a 20 mph
limit?
First of all a RTO (Road Traffic Order) is required to legally change a
speed limit. Then it is just a question of signing. Signing is required at the
start and end of the limit and then repeater signs are required at intervals along
each street. Traffic calming is not required.
What does it cost and how
would it be funded?
No two implementations are the same. However costs for other schemes
have typically worked out between £2-4 per resident. As noted earlier this does
not feature in LCCs current funding plan. However they have a 3 year rolling
plan that is updated annually. Experience of other groups has been that money
can be found if there is strong public and political support. Other County
Councils (e.g. Cambridgeshire) have supported an approach whereby the local
community raises the required funds and they implement the scheme.
Survey
How have you chosen who to
survey?
We have all the addresses within Stoke Golding and have then randomly
chosen 120 households to survey. Depending on the number of returns this should
statistically give us around 95% confidence in the results
Why are you only surveying
adults?
We would liked to have included children in the survey – in many ways
they are more impacted by traffic speed than adults. However from a practical
point of view we do not know how many children live in the village but we do know
how many electors there are. By restricting the survey to adults we are able to
statistically validate the results.
We would love to hear the views of children though (just email or phone) and would like to get
them involved in our campaign. Later we would like to engage with children
through schools and other community groups.
What happens next?
When we have collected the survey returns we will publish summary
results on our blog. We aim to go to the December Parish Council meeting to
present the results. If there is a clear mandate we will then be looking to
meet with Highways to present our case. We will use our blog (and the Stoker)
to keep people up to date with developments.
