E&E | Devon County Council carries out major review of 20mph zones in Exeter

Thursday 31 October 2013

Devon County Council carries out major review of 20mph zones in Exeter

By Exeter Express and Echo  |  Posted: October 30, 2013

Devon County Council carries out major review of 20 mph zones in Exeter

Many, according to Paul Bull, city councillor for Cowick, were not compliant with Department for  Transport guidelines and were thus unenforceable.

Now, however, the county council has advertised a new traffic order for them and residents have until November 7 to comment on the scope of them.

A spokesman for the county council said: “Having carried out a city wide review of 20mph limits and zones we have advertised a new traffic order. This order is purely to make simple changes to ensure that the TRO is updated to reflect what is on site.

“Where a limit is proposed to be removed from the historical order, this is because a 20mph limit or zone has not been signed on site and speeds are already very low (generally below 20mph) due to the roads affected being short or cul de sac style, so there is no need for a 20mph limit to be signed on site.

“This is in line with the county council’s aim not to add signing clutter to the network, especially where there isn’t a key justification.

“We are inviting comments on this proposed order which must be submitted by November 7.”

The spokesman added that in Devon a 20mph speed limit or zone can be considered in cases where all or most of the following apply:

• It is used by high numbers of pedestrians and cyclists

• Where there is a speed-related casualty record

• Where average speeds are already low or traffic calming will be introduced

• Where signing and traffic calming will not damage the environment and

• a school travel plan supports the proposal.

Paul Bull, city councillor for Cowick, has been campaigning for a 20mph limit in all residential streets and said: “Some two years ago, the Government changed the regulations so that as long as the zone had one physical traffic calming measure the others could be replaced by a 20mph repeater roundel or a 20mph carrriageway roundel. Even despite this relaxation, many, if not all zones within Exeter, were not meeting the regulations, so were not compliant with the legislation and able to be enforced.

“Pressure by myself and others have forced the county council to carry out an audit to see which zones were legal.

“I’ve heard from the county council that the contractors have finished the Broadway zone, but when I followed up around there I found several stretches where there was more than 100m between physical calming measures and/or zones. So they are still not compliant or enforceable.

“Also as a consequence of the audit they found that several road where not signed properly.

“In Cowick this covered Franklyn Drive and Orchard Gardens.

“For various reasons, the county council has decided to approach each of these streets in a different manner – put in the proper signs along Franklyn Drive because there are some speed humps in place; officers think that drivers could never go above 20mph in Orchard Gardens and so have decided not to put up signs, and let it revert back to 30mph ‘by virtue of street lighting’.

“This upsets me. For more than two years I have been saying that all residential roads – other than the major routes of Cowick Lane, Buddle Lane and Dunsford Road – are 20mph. This is what I had been told was the case, now due to errors in the past this will not be the case in the future."