Welsh county one of UK’s top 10 biggest spenders on 20mph speed limits
Alec Doyle Local Democracy Reporter
A Welsh county has been revealed among the 10 highest spending authorities in the UK on 20mph zones in the last three years.
Flintshire spent £1,796,000 on changing roads to 20mph – the eighth highest in Britain. In Wales only Swansea spent more.
By contrast Wrexham spent £1,002,040 – well outside the biggest spenders.
According to data from car insurance price comparison site Confused.com linked to the launch of its new speeding fine calculator, UK councils have spent more than £41.9 million introducing 20mph limits over the past three years.
Between 2023 and 2026 North Wales Police almost quadrupled its total number of speeding fines issued, 11,980 to 46,285.
Despite this some councils are already undoing the changes with at least 174 roads already switched back to higher limits.
The majority of those are in Wales – as a result of the backlash against 20mph speed limit on the country’s roads dating back to 2023.
Flintshire has reverted six of those 20mph roads back to their old speed limits since Welsh Government allowed authorities to reverse the policy last year.
Wrexham has reversed the 20mph limit on 52 roads. Spending figures only cover the cost of changing roads to 20mph – in Wales the Welsh Government covers the cost of reversing any changes.
Matt Crole-Rees, Motoring Expert at Confused.com, said that while drivers were not generally fans of the 20mph policy, research showed they accepted a sensible introduction of slower speeds.
“Drivers in Wales have mixed views on where the 20mph limits should apply,” he said. “More than half (57%) say 20mph makes sense near schools and homes, but not on main roads.
“Just under half (43%) think it’s gone too far. The priority now should be getting limits settled and clearly signed, so drivers know the correct limits for where they’re driving.”
He said the speeding ticket calculator was designed to show drivers how much a ticket would cost them before they speed, as a deterrent, with speeding fines now linked to income.
“Speed is one of the biggest factors in collisions,” he said. “The faster a vehicle is travelling, the less time a driver has to react and the more serious the consequences can be, particularly for pedestrians and cyclists near homes and schools.
“If you are caught speeding, the minimum penalty is a £100 fine and three points on your license, though it can be higher depending on your income and how far over the limit you were driving.
“It’s also worth remembering the costs can continue long after the fine is paid, as a speeding offence can push up your insurance premiums too.”
Support our Nation today
For the price of a cup of coffee a month you can help us create an independent, not-for-profit, national news service for the people of Wales, by the people of Wales.
Get more trusted Welsh news
Choose Nation.Cymru as a preferred source in Google News to see more of our journalism.
Uses “blanket 20 mph” in the article.
Well yeah, the old blanket limit was 30 and the new blanket is 20. Both are blanket speed limits unless it can be shown another speed is required.
Blanket is a term used to slate the decision. Previous was 30 and now 20, oh how the world fell in on people and destroyed their lives.
It was decided on certain factors. There are a few 30 near me that remains 30 to this day.
No they’re not, they’re specific to towns or villages that have agreed them. Also theyve reduced deaths and injuries by a quarter.
If it was blanket every section of every road in Wales including the motorway would be twenty.
There are a few roads near me where they were reduced to twenty mph, but then reverted back to thirty mph, but what i found is when the roads were 20 mph most people adhered to the limit but about 20% drove near to thirty mph, but now some roads have reverted back to thirty that same 20% are now driving closer to forty. Just shows their are still people who will disregard and push the boundaries whatever the speed limit is, but cry like babies when they choose to receive a speeding fine.
These are council roads and each council has had authority over the limits all along. They should be held to account over the massive waste of money from now turning roads back to 30mph purely because they failed to take the opportunity they were given to specify where they wanted to keep 30mph.
The Minister at the time had a hissy fit and refused to give councils support on edge cases so it should be the Welsh Government that pays for their mess.
Let’s get this straight. It’s not cost the councils and the Welsh Government are not paying to reverse it.
WE are paying for it.
US.
They do not generate their own money, they use ours.
You must be really annoyed about the billion Wales is chipping in to refurbish the Palace of Westminster.
And now you don’t need to pay any more. But reversing them will cost you more and cost lives.
I am happy my taxes have gone for good.
The costs is not just changing a road sign saying 20 instead of 30. Except in urban settings, which is already 40 on approach off a trunk road. In more rural or suburban locations upon approach to a qualifying area, there is the issue of intermediate approach. You cannot go from 50 or 60 straight down to 20, there has to be a step-down, an additional stretch of 30, the transition. Introduced prior to where the 20 kicks in. This is expensive and needs a whole re-design of the road-scape. Lines of sight, bends, junctions and parking that determine where… Read more »
Going from 60 to 30 without a 40 stepdown is also problematic.