AN URGENT plea for speed limits to be reduced on 'dangerous' roads with no footpaths has come from petitioners who say Wokingham Borough Council (WBC) is 'shirking responsibilities' on the issue.
A petition - currently signed by 84 Thames ward residents - accuses the council of ignoring central government advice on narrow road speed limits, while some residents in Wokingham have been left 'afraid to walk their children to school'.
Resident Simon Chapman, who set up the petition, has accused WBC of ‘paying lip service’ to its Active Travel campaign, which supports walking and cycling in the borough, ‘while ignoring the fact that a 60mph speed limit where mothers, children and elderly road users are forced to walk is a major deterrent’.
He wants the council to reduce speed limits to 30mph for 'tiny, often twisting and sometimes steep residential roads’ which ‘are used by a disproportionate number of motorists’. The roads referred to include Scarlett’s Lane, where activists say they measured up to 180 cars passing in an hour.
According to Department for Transport guidance, highways authorities should take account of vulnerable road users when setting speech limits.
Mr Chapman said that the authority ‘seems determined to ignore’ this advice despite neighbouring authorities, such as the Royal Borough of Windsor and Maidenhead, have complied.
Of the 84 signatures, there are Merv Boniface, who ran as the Green Party’s candidate for MP in the recent general election, and Cllr Wayne Smith, who represents the Thames ward.
Cllr Smith said: “These narrow lanes are dangerous with two-way traffic travelling at up to 60mph when there is likely to be a vulnerable road user in the middle of the road around the next bend with nowhere to escape to.
“The council needs to stop shirking its responsibilities and follow the DfT guidance.”
Mr Chapman, who lives in Kiln Green, added: “Many mums who drive their children to school because they are afraid of the traffic have told me that they would be more inclined to walk, or allow their children to walk or cycle on their own, if there were speed restriction lanes without footpaths.”
He said that lowering the speed limit would reduce the number of cars, leading to less congestion on the road during peak school-run hours.
Excessive speed is one of the main causes of road accidents across Britain. But the council website says that changing speed limits is a ‘long and costly process’.
It states: “The council therefore needs to make sure that new speed limits will bring benefits and concentrates on those that are likely to reduce accidents.”
The petition is still receiving signatures before closing on July 22.
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