It is time to slow down the pace of driving in our town.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to a conference in Shrewsbury on 20mph speed limits. I was spurred to attend by our very active campaign by local green group, Ludlow 21. Its members want all residential streets in Ludlow to be 20mph. According to a survey of nearly 500 people, four-fifths of residents want a town-wide 20mph limit on local streets. Even more want a 20mph limit on their streets.
I think we need 20mph streets. We don’t have many accidents in our town but we should be as ambitious as London’s mayor. Sadiq Khan wants zero deaths and serious injuries from road collisions by 2041. We should aim for the same.
We also need our streets to feel safe. That means that older people should feel confident crossing the road. It means that children should be able to play and make mistakes, like chasing a ball, without a risk of being injured.
It will not be easy to get a 20mph policy introduced in Ludlow. Although some town councillors support the ambition, many are sceptical. West Mercia police rarely seem interested in enforcing speeding in Ludlow, whatever the speed limit. The police commissioner is adamant that he doesn’t support 20mph limits. The director of public health for Shropshire hasn’t got the issue on his radar. And many drivers, who might complain about speeding when they are walking, seem to become oblivious to the plight of pedestrians when they are behind the wheel.
Just because something is difficult, doesn’t mean that we shouldn’t try to achieve it.
This article first appeared in the Ludlow Advertiser.
A public meeting in support of 20mph limits on residential streets will be held at the Methodist Church, 7.30pm, 23 November.
I can’t imagine a more wasteful use of the green parties time campaigning for 20mph speed limits. This is not a green idea. removing street parking would be green but that will happen anyway with the advent of driverless cars. Speed limits do not reduce accidents or make roads safer, it is one of those myths the industry would like us to believe. If it were so then motorways would be unsafe where as they are the safest roads.
Removing street parking is a good idea having a blanket 30mph is adequate for both safety and optimum flow of traffic. The 20mph thing is a red herring, although it has meant in Ironbridge the removal of speed bumps as the starting and stopping is also not green.
I wish the Green party would actually look at some green issues. Like locally generated electricity, a shared transport app so you can offer a lift to others when you are travelling to other local centres, smart controls of home heating from your phone, replacing Shire hall with a building fit for purpose – the list would be endless but PLEASE NOT THE STUPID 230mph
I can understand why the police do not want a 20mph limit, as they do not enforce the 30mph limit. This limit is often exceeded in Mill Street, particularity in the evenings.
Worth a try!
Road bumps do make drivers slow down and to be aware of their speed. At varying points along the road they can really make a difference. Link it with 20mph notices,speed signs.Equally Ian Marlow’s ideas could be considered for the future campaigning of the Lib Dems and Greens.
If the police are not prepared to enforce a 20 mph speed limit then it’s just a waste of time. The speeding drivers will know and just ignore it. As a matter of interest how many road traffic accidents involving pedestrians have there been in Ludlow town centre?, perhaps pedestrianisation would be a better option.
20mph is a waste of time and money!!! It will not be enforced by the police who don’t even bother to stop the youngsters speeding down Mill Street every evening!!!!!
The Town Center is so full of traffic during a normal day that trying to do 20mph is nearly impossible..
As you get towards the outskirts , pedestrians become less frequent and the 30mph limit is sufficient.
As has been suggested before , there is no proper enforcement of this anyway.
The main problem seems to be the ” young guns” later at night when no pedestrians are about and it may be just a noise problem that Mill Street and Broad Street etc have a problem with. !!
Perhaps the police patrols ??? should visit the town later at night to keep an eye on things .?
It’s very possible for cars to hit speeds of up to 50 mph during the day on Corve Street. Other comments are true though there is no enforcement so any limits are sadly abstract ones !
I wonder how many people commenting that 30mph is acceptable actually live on a residential street that is a busy through road for traffic and which would benefit from a lower limit? There are many such streets in Ludlow- not just the town centre (where the limit is already 20mph). Do you actually know what it’s like? It’s not just night-time speeding youths that are a problem, 30mph feels very fast when it’s outside your front door / when you’re trying to cross the road / trying to walk children to school safely etc. This is a quality of life and safety issue that would mean only a tiny increase in car journey times in a town the size of Ludlow. I agree it would be much more helpful if the police actually enforced speed limits but that in itself isn’t a good reason not to reduce the limit. There needs to be a change in motorists’ attitudes to be more considerate of pedestrians/local residents etc and to just slow down a little. Perhaps this would help.
Please Ludlow 21 get out onto Mill Street and identify those noisy speedsters. Would you also like to do a pedestrian count on the roads that are so worrying? , I rarely see anyone on the Bromfield Road, Henley road, Parys road and others, except at ‘school out time’ . Corve Street is another matter, that is busy. But do we really need 20mph ban at midnight. My car is more fuel efficient at 25 to 30 than 15 to 20. How green is that? A blanket ban is inappropriate . It is much more complicated.