20 mph speed limits FAQs

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 or Station Road). The planned major housing development at Barwell could make this significantly worse. We want these drivers to behave responsibly with respect for our village and residents. Traffic speeds particularly on the main thoroughfares remain very high as reported by residents and evidenced through the 2009 Speedwatch survey. Traffic was identified as a significant issue in the last village survey in 2007 - we don't believe much has changed since

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 http://sgstreets.blogspot.co.uk/p/20-mph-reading.html

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.