Edinburgh became the first city in Scotland to introduce a blanket 20MPH speed limit on many of its roads on Sunday. The new speed limit applies to all residential and commercial streets in the city centre, as well as to a large rural district to the west.

 

In February roads to the north, south central and east of the city will be covered by the 20MPH limit, followed by the north west and west next July and the south in January 2018. A network of key arterial routes across the city will retain their 30 and 40MPH speed limits.

 

Following a pilot in south Edinburgh a survey of 1000 people found support for 20MPH rose from 68% before to 79% after implementation. Walking trips rose by 7%, cycling trips rose 5% and car trips fell by 3%.

 

Edinburgh’s transport convener Lesley Hinds said: “Slower speeds bring many benefits to the urban environment, making streets more people friendly, promoting active travel and reducing the risk and severity of road collisions. The majority of Edinburgh residents support our 20MPH scheme and we know that other local authorities in the rest of Scotland are closely monitoring our experience.”

 

Police Scotland chief inspector Mark Rennie added: “We remain committed to casualty reduction on our roads and whenever we observe motorists disobeying the 20MPH speed limit, or where the public tell us there is an ongoing problem, we will respond appropriately.”

 

But the motoring group IAM RoadSmart said it was not convinced of the value of imposing a blanket 20MPH speed limit. Policy and research director Neil Greig said: “On some streets 20MPH is a speed that you might aspire to rather than need to limit yourself to. But there are others where it looks and feels safer to go over 20 – and that’s potentially confusing because drivers take their cue from the environment.

 

“We’d rather see investment made in dealing with the streets where there will be the most benefit.”

 

(Photo: Edinburgh Greens)