22 roads set to switch back to 30mph despite objections

Anthony Lewis, Local Democracy Reporter

There are 22 stretches of road in south Wales which are now officially set to revert to 30mph from 20mph.

A Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) Council report says a traffic regulation order is set to be made to introduce the changes.

Thirty-seven objections were received on a public notice setting out the council’s intention to change the speed limit on the 22 roads.

Council officers met with local councillors to discuss the objections relating to the proposed changes within their respective wards.

In response, there were no objections from the local councillors to the proposals for the 22 sections of road to change to a 30mph speed limit, and so the 37 objections from the public were rejected.

The stretches in question include the A4059 in Penderyn north of the school, the A4059 in Penderyn south of the school, Hirwaun Industrial Estate, Swansea Road/Merthyr Road in Hirwaun, Llanwonno Road in Mountain Ash, and the Abercynon Link Road.

They also include Sardis Road in Pontypridd, Coedcae Lane in Pontyclun, Ynyshir Road (Wattstown roundabout) in Ynyshir, Penrhys Road in Tylorstown, Hirwaun Road in Trewaun, and Station Road in Church Village.

Also included are Llwyncelyn Road in Porth, Upper Boat roundabout, the A4054 Cardiff Road (northern extent) in Rhydyfelin, the A473 Nant Celyn roundabout Church Village Bypass, and the B4595 Talbot Road in Llantrisant.

And the remaining roads include the B4276 Harriet Street Llwydcoed Road in Llwydcoed (southern extent), Cwmynysminton Road in Llwydcoed, A4233 East Road (in part) in the Rhondda Fach, Upper Boat to Midway Retail Park, and Gelli Hirion Industrial Estate and Gwaunmiskin Road (southern extent) in the Beddau and Tyn-y-nant ward.

Limit

The Welsh Government introduced a default 20mph speed limit in September 2023 and 84 roads in RCT were exempted at that point.

Following widespread public debate and a petition submitted to the Welsh Government at the end of 2023 with nearly 500,000 signatures, there was significant objection to the principle of the 20mph limit, an RCT council report said.

A review found significant variation in the number of exceptions applied across Wales, with some councils keeping very few 30mph limits.

This led to the Welsh Government publishing updated guidance to help councils decided whether it was safe and appropriate to raise speed limits to 30mph on restricted roads while also considering local context and conditions.

Following a national listening programme during the summer of 2024, RCT council received 313 requests from residents and organisations to review speed limits.

Review

In early 2025 approximately 90 distinct road locations were identified for review by the council.

A review panel then highlighted 26 candidate roads out of the 90 as potentials for a change back to 30mph.

The report said councillors, in support of their local residents, made strong representations for not increasing the speed limit from 20mph to 30mph on four sections of road.

As a result Berw Road in Pontypridd, Cardiff Road to Main Road in Llantrisant, Brynteg Lane in Beddau, and A4058 Ystrad Road in Pentre were withdrawn and maintain 20mph speed limits.

There were two objections in relation to the lane section of Chepstow Road that leads to Tylacoch Place in Treorchy, but this is outside the specific scope of the Welsh Government’s 20mph speed limit review and was one of eight other road sections for other various speed limit changes identified through the wider review process.

Here the current 30mph speed limit will be withdrawn and the road will revert to the default 20mph speed limit.