9th Apr 2008

Greens' Roadmap to Safer Streets

Green Party Councillors call for 20mph speed limits in all York residential areas.

The Green Party Councillors Andy D'Agorne and Dave Taylor are today calling for the establishment of 20mph speed limits in residential areas all over the City of York. They will deliver a petition to the Council and reveal the results of an opinion survey into establishing a new 20mph residential zone in Fishergate ward.

The scheme in Fishergate, which would take in the area west of Fishergate between Grange Garth and Farndale Street, could form a pilot for more such areas all over the city. The Greens' call follows action being taken in Hull, Portsmouth and London to slow down traffic in residential areas. Councillor Andy D'Agorne said: "There is a well-proven reason why 20mph should be the limit in residential areas: the probability of being killed in a collision drops off massively below 30mph[1]. Road deaths are unacceptably high, in York, in the UK and worldwide[2], and slower speeds help to promote cycling and walking for all age groups."

Portsmouth and Hull are two cities which have made great strides toward improving road safety by adopting 20mph zones.

In Portsmouth, the Council's Local Transport Plan included a policy of all residential areas off the main trunk routes moving to a 20mph limit. This won backing from the Government, and began to be phased in last year, with the last streets being added in March[3]. Dave Taylor said, "This is the kind of visionary Local Transport Plan we sadly didn't get. Instead, we were told last December that York is one of the worst-performing areas for road safety in the whole of England.[4]"

The push toward a 20mph policy for residential areas is being led by Green Councillors in Lancaster and, in co-operation with Ken Livingston in areas of London including Islington. Here in York, a local resident proposed through the Fishergate Ward Committee ballot that a 20mph zone be created in their neighbourhood. "We were keen to support this proposal, and we proposed following the Portsmouth model: speed reduction in streets where average speeds were already low and without the use of road humps," said Cllr D'Agorne.

The Green Councillors and a group of residents went out collecting signatures for a petition, and conducted a rough opinion survey. Letters were delivered to every house in the proposed 20mph area, and the response was overwhelmingly positive[5]. "We had almost three quarters of responses supporting the scheme. Many citizens raised very intelligent concerns which we are glad to be able to take into account as we deliver the proposal and the petition to the Full Council meeting this week," said Cllr Taylor.

Cllr. D'Agorne said: "Even on the smallest residential streets, drivers are still too often attempting inappropriate speeds, particularly after dark. 20mph limit signs and other minor changes to road layout can send the message that this is an area where lower speeds are expected."

Notes - 1 - A person is around ten times less likely to die if hit by a car travelling at 20mph than at 30mph.

2 - Research by the World Heath Organisation forecasted that between 2000 and 2015 road accidents would cause 20 million deaths, 200 million serious injuries and leave more than one billion people killed, injured, bereaved or left to care for a victim. Road accidents are the seventh biggest killer in the world.

3 - For more on the Portsmouth scheme see http://www.portsmouth.gov.uk/yourcouncil/12549_12714.html

4 - See Press article "York's road safety crisis is revealed", 19th December 2007.

5 - Of the 22 responses, 18 were positive, 3 were negative and one abstained.