People had been asked to contact their council with details of the roads they wanted to see changed
The first Welsh council has published the names of roads which may return to 30mph after a review of the 20mph default speed limit. The law is now over a year old in Wales, and a review has been undertaken on a council-by-council basis.
In July, the Welsh Government published revised guidance about the 20mph limit, and two months later in September people were invited to contact their council and tell them roads which they wanted to be reviewed. There were thousands of requests, which you can see more details of here, and the Welsh Government made £5m available for councils to fund changes.
The first council to publish the names of roads which could return to 30mph is Flintshire Council. When the authority was asked how many requests it had received in August it said it has received over 956 requests for 30mph limits to be reinstated but did not disclose how many roads that impacts.
It has put forward two roads – the A5026 Lloc and part of the A548 Bagillt/Mostyn Road – but says it will announce further roads on a weekly basis between now and Christmas and any remaining roads will be advertised in January 2025. There will then be further engagement with residents before a final decision is taken on roads in the county.
Wales’ transport minister Ken Skates said: “I’m pleased to see Councils listening to people’s views and making progress in reviewing the roads in their areas that they deem could possibly be safely changed back to 30mph. Flintshire County Council is the first local authority to start the statutory process to make changes at a local level and more local authorities will follow in the coming weeks.
“I want to thank everyone who’s taken part in this listening process so far, and it’s positive to see things moving ahead. We know there is a consensus that 20mph is the right speed on many of our roads near schools, hospitals, play areas and built-up areas. We have listened and empowered local communities to make decisions so we have the right speeds on the right roads to make 20mph a success story for Wales.”
