Council's 20mph reversal could be complete by end of July

Alec Doyle, local democracy reporter

The reversal of default 20mph speed limits on 52 roads in Wrexham could be completed by the end of July.

The Welsh Government faced a major public backlash across the country after enacting a default 20mph speed limit on all restricted roads in Wales last year.

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Pressure

Following significant public and political pressure Welsh Government agreed to allow councils to reverse the default 20mph limit and to fund the changes.

Now, work to reverse the speed limits across Wrexham is underway.

“Work has started and I would imagine by the end of July most of our roads will be complete,” said deputy leader of Wrexham Council and Lead Member for Housing and Climate Change Cllr Dave Bithell.

“Contractors are in the process of contacting local members to ensure they are aware of changes in their wards,”

“It’s work in progress but by the end of July all those 52 roads that we agreed at Executive Board should be there or there abouts.”

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Public consultation

A public consultation was carried out by Wrexham County Borough Council in January to determine whether the public supported reversing the 20mph speed limits imposed by the Senedd.

An overwhelming 93% of respondents said they were in favour of returning the speed limits to 30mph.

Wrexham council has faced some criticism over how long it has taken to implement the changes, but at the time of the consultation Cllr Bithell said the authority was keen to ensure the change was done correctly and with public safety a priority.

“Whenever we have considered road speeds, it has always been to reduce them,” he said. “We have never increased speeds as a council.

“There are a number of risks in increasing road speeds that we need to consider carefully. The most important one is the safety of drivers and pedestrians.

“Increasing speed increases the risk of harm if there is an accident so we need to get this right.”