Shropshire village speed bumps will stay, despite 1,200-name petition
Controversial speed bumps in a village are going nowhere – despite a 1,200-signature petition calling for their removal.
Residents in Shawbury have failed to have the speed cushions removed from the 30mph stretch of Wem Road after Shropshire Council dismissed their calls.
For months residents have been calling for the traffic calming measure to be flattened, as they believe they are not a suitable form of enforcement. But following a probe Shropshire Council officers recommended the speed cushions should stay.
They said results of a traffic survey indicated that vehicle speeds were now well constrained in line with a self-enforcing 30mph speed limit. Shropshire Council agreed the speed bumps should remain at a meeting of its environment and services scrutiny committee yesterday.
Dymphna Gregory, who lives on the Mytton Road estate and who helped organise the petition, said she hadn't known of any issues in 47 years of living in the village.
"They went along with the recommendation which made me very annoyed," she said. "Hardly anyone walks along that road so they are not needed. The council members were relating everything to where they lived – which is very different to the situation in Shawbury.
"In our parish plan it says we prefer vehicle activated signs. This has been ignored."
A report put together by the council's project manager Richard Ayton said: "The cost of removing the speed cushions and replacing with other measures would be in the region of £10,000 to £20,000, depending on what measures were chosen and the funding of this would be at the expense of another capital project."
The speed cushions were installed last summer as part of the 30mph speed limit extension safety scheme.
They were developed following concerns about the safety of children walking in Wem Road to get to Shawbury Primary School.
The report added: "Within the informal and formal consultation process undertaken by Shropshire Council, officers consulted with West Mercia Constabulary (WMC).
"WMC had concerns regarding the extension of the existing 30mph limit and
advised they would only support it providing appropriate calming measures were implemented to reduce speeds to a level commensurate with a self-enforcing 30mph speed limit."
