Council to begin work on 20mph limits outside schools
Surveys will begin next week as part of plans to introduce 20mph speed restrictions outside county schools – although the actual limits are not likely to be imposed until April next year at the earliest.
Shropshire Council has said workers will begin conducting surveys outside secondary schools in the county from next week.
It is the first stage of a major scheme to introduce 20mph speed limit restrictions outside Shropshire's schools which do not already have them.
Shropshire Council voted to develop the project in September 2020 – and the surveys will see staff collecting data, and looking at how the limits can be introduced.
The authority has said that the earliest the plans could come into force is April 2022, and that the work to put them in place "will span several years".
A statement from Shropshire Council said: "The programme is designed to be put in place where road conditions allow and will help improve both safety and reduce emissions around schools. The first batch of surveys will commence next week, primarily in the vicinity of secondary schools."
Surveys
Councillor Steve Charmley, the authority's deputy leader and portfolio holder for physical infrastructure, highways and built housing, said the work would see individual assessments of how the measures can be implemented at each school.
He said: “I am pleased that this work is progressing outside our schools so quickly, with the surveys due to be completed by the end of June.
“There is no single generic approach for the introduction of a 20mph speed restriction, and site-specific characteristics will determine the level of intervention that may be required.
“In some circumstances this may be physical traffic calming and in others current conditions could suggest that a 20mph speed restriction is unnecessary or inappropriate and would deliver minimal benefits.
“This is a very important project for Shropshire Council and I look forward to working on it in the coming years to the benefit of all our communities.”
Councillor Kirstie Hurst-Knight, the council's portfolio holder for children and education, said: “We are really pleased to be progressing with this work to introduce 20mph zones outside schools which do not have one already.
“The safety of our children is paramount, and we are delighted to be progressing this to deliver the greater benefits to the school community, local residents, highways users and also the environment.”
Town or parish councils will be alerted to the surveys taking place, and headteachers, who have already been notified, will be spoken to again, according to the council.
It added that data collection and feasibility work will only be carried out where schools do not currently have a mandatory 20mph speed restriction – or where schools with multiple access points would benefit from the introduction.
