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Fight for 20mph city speed limit
An ATTEMPT to introduce a city-wide 20mph zone to help prevent scores of fatalities and serious injuries on York's roads every year could be resurrected.
Hopes that York would follow in the wake of other towns and cities in England and introduce the lower speed limits for hundreds of residential streets were dashed last week.
While York Council officials are now looking into introducing 20mph zones in specific areas, the decision was taken not to pursue a city-wide limit amid concerns about the huge costs involved and whether it would prove effective.
However, opposition councillors from the authority's Labour group have called in the decision in the hope that the council will perform a U-turn and carry out more research to establish if the city-wide scheme would be viable.
Labour's transport spokeswoman Ruth Potter, who has co-ordinated the campaign, claimed nearly three-quarters of motorists supported changes to reduced speed limits in residential districts.
Coun Potter said: "We would like to see a default 20mph speed limit put in place so that the council has to make a conscious effort to introduce a 30mph zone.
"It is about changing the culture of drivers and a new city-wide limit would avoid confusion for motorists over whether they are in a 20mph or 30mph zone.
"We want to sit down and discuss this as a council and conduct further research because we feel that at the moment York is lagging behind other parts of the country."
There has been a groundswell of support among residents for 20mph zone across York amid growing pressure for the council to follow the lead of other towns and cities in the country.
On average nearly 100 people are killed or seriously injured on roads in the York area every year, according to official statistics.
A city-wide scheme was introduced last year in Portsmouth at a cost of 475,000, and officials in Norwich, Oxford and Newcastle are considering similar initiatives.
A series of supporting petitions has been signed by more than 600 residents in York and handed to the council.
However, York Council's executive member for city strategy, Steve Galloway, stressed that there was no clear evidence that a lower city-wide speed limit would be effective.
The scheme is expected to cost 500,000, and Coun Galloway said there were no funds to finance it in the council's already under-pressure budgets.
A series of 20mph zones is already in place in York around schools and in some residential neighbourhoods, and up to five more individual schemes could be introduced during the current financial year.
The council has set aside 30,000 in funding for new schemes, and a trial is already under way in Fishergate for a new 20mph zone.
Coun Galloway, who is responsible for overseeing York's transport policies, said: "We feel that there should be 20mph zones to target specific areas rather a blanket policy across the whole of York.
"The council is looking to pursue a more refined approach as there is no evidence that a city-wide scheme would actually cut the speed of motorists.
"The police have told us that they have only limited resources and they are only able to give their attention to a certain number of roads.
"The vast majority of motorists claim they drive at an appropriate speed, but there is a problem with a minority who take no notice of speed limits whatever they may be."
York Council's scrutiny management committee will meet a week today to consider whether there should be a re-think on introducing a city-wide 20mph speed limit.
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Saturday 26 May 2012
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