MORE 20MPH ZONES FOR CARDIFF
HUGE areas of Cardiff are set to become 20mph zones under new council proposals.
Dozens of streets in Adamsdown, Splott and Plasnewydd are the latest to be selected as part of the scheme which is being rolled out across the city.
Reduced speed zones have already been put in place in Riverside, Canton, Grangetown and Gabalfa as part of the council’s actions to improve the safety of Cardiff’s roads.
But now main roads including City Road, Albany Road and Splott Road could also be included.
Last year Cardiff council said it cost around £180,000 to introduce 20mph zones in Riverside and Canton.
The authority has previously said the cost of new 20mph zones could be funded through money generated through bus lane fines.
Anna Semlyen, national campaign manager from the 20’s Plenty for Us pressure group, has previously said there would only be benefits from 20mph zones being introduced.
“It’s unbelievable how many benefits there are, and we are not just talking casualties,” she said.
“If you reduce the risk – because people are going less fast – then people will start to feel they are more able to talk to neighbours or to let their children play.”
Ms Semlyen also said vehicles would be more fuel-efficient, while there would also be a resulting fall in pollution.
And she said: “If you improve the streets where people live they will walk more and they will cycle more.
“Even small increases in walking and cycling can have massive benefits for the health of a nation.
“The only difference is a marginal increase in the number of seconds it takes in cross-city journeys.”
Canton councillor Ramesh Patel, chair of the Environmental Scrutiny Committee, said reducing speed limits across the city would improve public safety, improve the live-ability of streets, reduce the “attractiveness of using residential streets as short cuts” and encourage walking and cycling.
“We have devised a scheme after learning from other councils in the UK,” he said.
“The scheme will be delivered incrementally from the city centre out, ensuring that the new schemes implemented are immediately adjacent to areas that already have the 20mph limits in place.
“This will provide continuity for drivers as well as cyclists and walkers using these areas.
“We intend to ensure primary routes in these wards will remain at 30mph, with speeds in residential areas reducing to 20mph.
“The council has liaised with the South Wales Police on the scheme to ensure they are fully briefed as we move forwards. The detail of each scheme will be consulted with local councillors and residents in these wards before we implement the scheme in each area.”
Residents and business-owners in the affected areas have until midnight on December 28 to write to the council with any objections.
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