Wales’ 20mph speed limit review moves to final stage ahead of one-year anniversary

As Wales approaches the one-year anniversary of introducing the 20mph default speed limit, the Welsh Government has outlined the next steps in its ongoing review.

Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates, has provided an update, highlighting the progress made and the continued efforts to ensure the speed limit is implemented where it’s most effective.

The Welsh Government initially introduced a three-phase plan earlier this year, beginning with a National Listening Programme over the summer.

The initiative encouraged individuals, businesses, and communities across Wales to share their thoughts on the 20mph limit.

This included a visit to Buckley by Mr Skates to hear about the issues faced by the town since its speed limits introduction.

[Ken Skates MS meets local councillors in Buckley]

In July, the government issued revised guidance for highway authorities, providing them with the framework to assess roads.

Now, local authorities are entering the final phase of the plan, having completed the first two phases.

As part of this, people in Wales were asked to write to their councils to suggest roads they wanted changed back.

Flintshire Council like all others in Wales has been sifting through hundreds of requests to turn roads back to 30mph.

Several council across Wales are already moving forward by publishing details on the volume of input and outlining the next steps.

The process aims to ensure that the 20mph limit is applied to the appropriate roads, where it can contribute most effectively to safety.

[Ken Skates MS]

For any changes to be made to specific roads, councils will follow the statutory Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process.

This will offer residents another chance to engage and voice their opinions before any changes come into effect.

The Welsh Government has said latest statistics “provide encouraging signs that things are moving in the right direction, with a fall in collisions and a reduction in speeds.”

Speaking ahead of the one-year anniversary, Ken Skates said:

“I wanted to give people a voice on 20mph in their area and I am grateful to everyone who has shared feedback with their local council over the past few months.

“I want to build from the broad consensus that 20mph is right where people live, work and play – this is about getting the right speeds on the right roads.

“I want to pay tribute to our partners in local government. I’m pleased that local authorities are starting to move into the final stages of the plan. This will move at different paces in different places, according to local circumstances and the amount of feedback received.”

Chair of the Welsh Local Government Association, Cllr Andrew Morgan added:

“Local authorities welcome the further funding and support offered by the Welsh Government to get the right speeds on the right roads but are faced with challenging decisions. We will need to carefully balance the benefits and disbenefits of raising speeds. Safety of all road users will be at the heart of the decisions we take.”

As our sister site Wrexham.com has reported previously, the changes will be yet another bountiful time for some – not all – print publications in Wales, with several hundred thousand pounds of public money spent to ‘inform’ the public via statutory notices in the back of newspapers which are seeing ongoing drops in circulations. This sum does not include the £800k+ paid promotion campaign advertising on Facebook / TV / etc by Welsh Government for the 20MPH rollout – something now that the former Minister Lee Waters said was not enough.

The overall cost for the introduction of the 20MPH speed limit has been put at £32,000,000.

There are no firm estimates on what the further adjustment of the policy / law will cost, however previously Ken Skates MS has said, “We will not expect councils, who are facing difficult financial pressures, to cover the cost of adjusting routes back to 30mph”