20mph limit move ‘to make city centre safer’
COUNCIL AIMS TO MEET NEEDS OF PEOPLE RATHER THAN CARS
MOST of the city centre is set to have a 20mph speed restriction under plans to make Nottingham greener and encourage more people to walk and cycle.
A number of inner-city roads are proposed for the speed limit change.
They include Talbot Street, Clarendon Street, Peel Street, Dryden Street and Shakespeare Street, near Nottingham Trent University’s city campus.
Others – including Friar Lane, Angel Row, Goose Gate, Bath Street and Brook Street– are also proposed to become possible 20mph zones.
In 2015, Nottingham City Council introduced 20mph limits in almost all residential areas to create lowerspeed neighbourhoods.
It is now looking at increasing the number of streets with a 20mph limit to include much of the city centre.
The authority’s deputy leader, Councillor Sally Longford, said: “We want to create a city that is built around the needs of people, rather than cars.
“To do this we need to encourage sustainable travel, and make the city a more attractive place to walk and cycle.
“Reducing the speeds of vehicles on more roads will help to make people feel safer, and create a more attractive environment for all.
“More people switching to sustainable travel will contribute to cleaner air, and also help towards our ambition to become a carbonneutral city by 2028.”
The authority has received £2 million from the Government to deliver a range of projects to make walking and cycling easier, and encourage more sustainable travel.
Part of this money will be used to slow speeds of traffic in the city centre, so that cyclists and pedestrians feel safer.
An informal consultation on this scheme ran earlier this year, in which 71 percent of respondents supported the proposals to make the city centre 20mph.
The plans have now been amended after a review of feedback to exclude a number of main routes throughout the city. These roads will keep 30mph limits. It is also proposed a section of Manvers Street will be reduced from 40mph to 30mph.
Roads not considered for a 20mph limit include Wollaton Street, Derby Road, Maid Marian Way, Castle Boulevard, Wilford Street, Waterway Street West, Queen’s Road and Meadows Way. Huntingdon Street, Glasshouse Street, Cranbrook Street,
Bellar Gate and Pennyfoot Street are also set to avoid the 20mph restriction.
Councillor Longford said: “Feedback from the informal consultation was supportive which is why we are continuing to the formal stage of the process. We listened to feedback to concerns over speed limits on certain roads, such as Queen’s Road and London Road, and have excluded those from the proposals.”
The formal consultation began on Monday
Responses can be sent in writing to road.safety@nottinghamcity.gov. uk and should be received by Monday, September 27.
More information on www.transportnottingham.com/20mph