Speed plan
Cutting speed on 64 roads
The speed limit on all roads in Fernhill, High Burnside and Blairbeth could be cut, the Reformer can reveal.
South Lanarkshire Council want to bring in a consolidation order that would make it an offence for cars to drive over 20mph.
The speed limit on all roads in Fernhill, High Burnside and Blairbeth could be cut, the Reformer can reveal.
South Lanarkshire Council want to bring in a consolidation order that would make it an offence for cars to drive over 20mph.
Sixty-four roads could be affected if the plan goes ahead, with only the Cathkin Relief Road staying at 30mph.
They include Fernhill Road, which campaigners have long said presents a danger.
Head of South Lanarkshire Council’s roads and transportation services, Gordon Mackay, said: “As part of the Cathkin Relief Road project a number of complementary works have been considered and one of these proposes 20mph speed limits on various residential streets in the High Burnside and Fernhill areas.
“The statutory process to promote a traffic regulation order has begun and it is anticipated that it will be formally advertised in the Rutherglen Reformer later this month.
“Should the process be completed with no objections being raised then the order will be promoted and signing in place later this financial year.
“These measures are obviously intended to reduce vehicle speeds in residential areas and thus improve road safety.”
The issue was discussed at a meeting of Rutherglen Community Council last Tuesday.
Councillor Robert Brown said the move could see drivers think more about their speed.
But he added: “The problem is going to be one of enforcement. “The idea that you are going to have police officers enforcing it is not going to happen. “This is a matter of changing habits.” Other concerns were raised about the western part of Fernhill Road which is sharply downhill.
And Davy O’Neil, a community campaigner in Fernhill, told the Reformer he was sceptical on whether the move would make the area safer.
He said: “How are they going to implement this? You just need to stand at the by-pass and you’ll see people breaking the speed limit.
“In theory it’s a good idea. If you shave 10mph off someone’s speed it can save a life but you already have people going more than 30 on the relief road and bypass and the limit doesn’t bother them.
“I have said for years a more effective measure would be traffic lights on Fernhill Road.”
This is a matter of changing habits Cllr Robert Brown
The Cathkin Relief Road has not eased congestion in the area according to the man who led opposition to the controversial project.
Alan McLennan witnessed major congestion on the road last Wednesday, May 10, with cars backed up for most of the route.
He even spotted cars performing turns in the road to try a different route.
The council say the issue was caused by a fault at the junction of Blairbeth Road and Croftfoot Road and was an “isolated incident”.
But Alan insists the route has not delivered on its aims.
He said: “The relief road is not relieving traffic in the area.
“All it is doing is increasing the traffic on Mill Street which now regularly backs up to the Croftfoot Road/Blairbeth Road junction. The large increase in standing traffic is increasing air pollution in Rutherglen, not reducing it, as was stated by South Lanarkshire Council in their justification for spending £18.3 million of public money.
“The residents of Blairbeth, Cathkin, Fernhill and High Burnside were ignored by the council and the stated aims of this road are now being exposed, one by one, as false.
“Perhaps the new administration will listen more to residents before implementing unwanted, expensive, grandiose projects which do not actually benefit the community.”
The road, which was first suggested over 50 years ago, opened in February this year. The project sparked massive opposition from those along the route.
South Lanarkshire Council’s head of roads and transportation services, Gordon Mackay, said: “Due to an intermittent fault with the traffic signals at the relief road/ Blairbeth Road/Croftfoot Road junction the control system was offline last Wednesday morning. This unfortunately created congestion. The fault has been identified and addressed.
“In the three months since Cathkin Relief Road opened we have seen a gradual increase in traffic flow from around 5,000 to approximately 7,800 vehicles per day. Conversely traffic appears to be reducing on adjacent routes; however, this is more difficult to quantify as road works in the area continue to influence traffic flows.
“We have monitored the road since it opened, and will continue to do so, but are confident that Wednesday’s congestion was an isolated incident.”