20mph zones are halted after no cut in accidents

TOWN hall bosses plan to halt their flagship 20mph limit roll-out - after finding it has made almost no difference to speeds or accidents.

Manchester council announced plans to introduce the new limit on all minor residential roads in order to cut accidents in 2012 - at a cost of £1.7m.

The measures were first phased in across central, south and east Manchester, with the rest of the city due to follow.

But council chiefs say speeds have not changed significantly where the new limit has been introduced - and on some roads they have actually gone up.

Meanwhile, the cut in pedestrian and cycling accidents is less than the drop across Manchester as a whole.

The council is now freezing the next phase of the roll-out while it sees whether more effective measures could be introduced instead.

Town hall bosses agreed the original measure five years ago after initial calls from the opposition Liberal Democrat group led to crossparty agreement. In 2013, officers earmarked £500,000 of public health cash to roll out the restrictions in Ancoats, Clayton, Bradford, Fallowfield, Gorton, Hulme, Longsight, Miles Platting, Moss Side and Rusholme. A year later, another £500,000 of transport cash was found to extend the measure, so the entire city Jennifer Williams centre and east Manchester was covered, plus most of the south.

Nearly £700,000 remains available to roll the limit out further.

However, officers have now carried out a long-term evaluation of the first phase - finding it has cut speeds by just 0.7mph.

A report going before council bosses on Wednesday admits there has only been a ‘marginal’ change, in line with other towns and cities that have introduced the measure.

On a handful of roads there has been a more significant drop, such as on Meltham Avenue, in Withington, where speeds have fallen by nearly 10mph, and Rylance Street in Beswick, which has seen a 7mph drop.

But on others, such as Greenheys Lane, in Moss Side, and Scotland Hall Road, in Clayton, speeds have risen by around 4mph.

Cycling accidents have dropped 42pc across Manchester since 2012, but in the areas with 20mph limits the figure is between 12pc and 16pc.

The report suggests using the remaining £668,000 for alternative road safety measures instead.