The last remaining 40 mph speed limits on Edinburgh’s streets will be reduced to 30mph this summer.
The council said the new speed restrictions on some of the city’s busiest roads would be introduced within months, as it unveiled its road safety delivery plan for 2024 to 2025 – although the original plan was to introduce the lower speed limits some two years ago.
Lanark Road, Queensferry Road and Comiston Road are among 21 locations set for a 10 mph reduction as part of the £300,000 safety scheme.
It comes more than four years after the plans were first approved, when councillors agreed to the changes in February 2020. At that time it was estimated the changes would be in place within 18 months but a report noted at the time delays “can occur” and then the following month the UK’s first Covid-19 lockdown was announced.
With the statutory traffic regulation order (TRO) process now completed, a report to this week’s Transport Committee has confirmed that work to install new signage is expected to start in Summer 2024.
Transport officers hope that reducing the capital’s remaining 40 mph roads to 30 mph will help to “create environments that encourage active travel” and “provide a road network that is safe for all road users”.
The new limits will be introduced on:
- Lanark Road
- West Approach Road
- Comiston Road
- Biggar Road
- Riccarton Mains Road
- Calder Road
- Wester Hailes Road
- Glasgow Road (between Gogar roundabout and Drum Brae roundabout)
- Glasgow Road (between Newbridge roundabout and east end of Ratho Station)
- Old Liston Road
- Gogar Station Road
- South Gyle Broadway
- South Gyle Access
- Queensferry Road
- Hillhouse Road
- Frogston Brae
- Seafield Road East
- Sir Harry Lauder Road
- Milton Link
- Milton Road
- Milton Road East
- Hawes Brae
Meanwhile, plans to roll out more 20 mph speed limits across Edinburgh will also go before councillors later this year, and delivery of these measures could also take up to two years due to the statutory process set out by government legislation for any road changes.
Streets in the new programme could include London Road, Ferry Road, Portobello Road and those with a ‘significant role for walking and cycling’ although locations have not yet been finalised.
While the first 20mph speed limits were introduced in Edinburgh in 2016, the council said in a report published last year that a survey with residents and market research found that public opinion “appears to be divided on whether to further expand 20mph speed limits”.
Results showed that 57.7 per cent of more than 4,000 respondents to the questionnaire and 31.36 per cent of those surveyed for the market research – which used a sample of 472 people ‘demographically representative’ of Edinburgh’s population – thought there should be no increase in the number of 20mph roads at all. In addition Lothian Buses expressed concerns about the impact the changes would have on bus journey times and timetabling.
A report said: “Officers are currently considering the scope of the additional speed limit reduction programme, will engage with bus operators, and plan to bring forward a more detailed programme later in the year. In line with the Committee decision, officers will also consider the promotion of 20mph speed limits adjacent to all schools in the city.”
by Donald Turvill Local Democracy Reporter
The Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) is a public service news agency. It is funded by the BBC, provided by the local news sector (in Edinburgh that is Reach plc (the publisher behind Edinburgh Live and The Daily Record) and used by many qualifying partners. Local Democracy Reporters cover news about top-tier local authorities and other public service organisations.
