Full speed ahead for south Bristol 20mph plan
By Most of Bedminster, Southville and Windmill Hill wards will become 20mph zones, after the pilot project was approved by Bristol City Council cabinet members yesterday.
Part of the Cycling City strategy, the plan is to reduce traffic speeds in these areas to encourage more people to take up walking and cycling.
It is part of ambitious targets set out to double the level of cycling in the city and reduce the number of people killed or seriously injured on Bristol’s roads by 40%.
Following a public consultation, which broadly supported the plans, cabinet members last night backed the idea – saying it could “radically change the way the city functions”.
Avon and Somerset police — which will enforce the speed limit — identified 14 roads where they considered enforcing a 20mph limit to be unrealistic. Malago Road, St John’s Lane and a 22-metre length of Dalby Avenue were taken out of the zone and the police withdrew any objections to the scheme.
Work is expected to begin in the Spring and, if successful, a similar scheme will be rolled out in the east of the city – in Easton, Whitehall, Redfield, The Dings, Barton Hill and St Paul’s – and could become city-wide.
The £250,000 scheme was pushed through by Councillor Jon Rogers, who was forced to miss the meeting after being taken to hospital on Wednesday night with chest pains.
Cllr Rogers was diagnosed with pleurisy at the Bristol Royal Infirmary, but was well enough to return home last night.
It may not be intuitive but cutting vehicle speeds increases the traffic capacity of a road. Consider steady movement of traffic, as opposed to racing from one junction queue to the next. (Starting point for reading: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Traffic_flow)
While it is always the car drivers who seem most vocal, they are only one group affected by this change. Frankly the idea that motorists should no longer be blighting my neighbourhood with excessive speed can only be a good thing.
Do you actually believe that nonsense you have just spouted Cllr Rogers!!! Going slower will improve the speed of journeys (oxymoron?).
What is needed, is for the useless civil servants monitoring these useless parameters to be made redundant, and the cities roads left alone from your wreckless behaviour. while you are at it, if u would resign too that would be great start.
Terry Evans seems to be hinting this is a backward step. Far from it! These changes should improve the quality of life in the 20mph areas; quieter, cleaner, safer and more pedestrian friendly.
We will be measuring a number of parameters as part of these pilots, including the speed of journeys, which paradoxically may improve! If traffic flows at a slower, steadier speed, with less sharp acceleration and braking, the vehicles can safely travel closer together and there may be more "filtering in turn" at junctions.
We shall see
PS. Thanks for all the kind wishes. Seem to be making a steady recovery.
Then, we could have "wheel barrow" park and ride too!
Let us all think about Rickshaws perhaps, and don't forget folks, we wont be paying any road tax ever again! They cannot afford to repair the roads now! so what chance when there's no funds coming in to the Cities coffers? And what's more Ladies and Gentlemen, it's called "Progress"!!!!!!!!!!!!????????