Dozens of roads could change speed limit after council review

Ted Peskett, local democracy reporter

The speed limit on dozens of roads could change following a council review of the default 20mph limit across the county.

In July 2024, the Welsh Government revised its guidance on setting speed limits on roads affected by the 20mph rollout and Welsh councils were asked to collect feedback from residents on roads that had changed.

A number of councils have already announced which roads they intend to revert back to 30mph, but Vale of Glamorgan Council is still conducting its review.

Vale of Glamorgan Council ward councillor for St Bride’s Major, Cllr Joanna Protheroe, questioned why things are taking as long as they are at a council environment and regeneration scrutiny committee meeting on Tuesday, April 8.

Pilot

She said: “In my ward we have an area on the outskirts of St Brides Major that was part of the original pilot that went back to 30mph and for the residents here they’ve written in and they ask [about it] all the time.

“They want it to go back to 20mph.

“I know we are probably at the top of the list hopefully for that when it happens, so my question is why the delay?”

When the 20mph default speed was rolled out across Wales in 2023 it covered ‘restricted roads’ which included roads in built up areas.

This caused some roads in built up areas that were less residential to be included in the speed limit change.

At the time, councils were also asked to propose exemptions to the 20mph speed limit in their areas. This included roads on key arterial routes.

Vale of Glamorgan Council’s director of environment and housing services, Miles Punter, said: “We have got 83 streets that we are reviewing currently so we are hoping to get the report on this into committee by the recess.

“[There is] nothing sinister to it [the delay].

“It is just the workload essentially. We have got all the info, we are gathering all of the data together, we are assessing each of the requests.

“Committee should hopefully see that report fairly soon and we have been granted money for next year to make any changes necessary.”

Cardiff

Next-door to the Vale of Glamorgan, four roads are expected to change back to being 30mph in Cardiff.

These are Newport Road, Western Avenue, Ocean Way and Hadfield Road.

For any roads in the Vale of Glamorgan where the revised 20mph guidance suggests it should be 30mph, the council will produce a traffic regulation order (TRO).

Every TRO will be subject to a public consultation, where residents can show support or raise objections.

The rollout of 20mph in Wales has been a controversial talking point in the country since it was first raised as a proposal.

It was brought in to improve road safety, encourage more active travel and improve air quality.

Data published by the Welsh Government shows that the number of car crashes, including serious crashes, fell in the first year that the 20mph default speed limit was brought in.

However, concerns have also been raised about increased journey times and its impact on bus services.

There are also doubts about the impact it has on air quality, with data published by Transport for Wales (TfW) in May 2024 showing that it had no material affect at that time.