Birmingham City Council considering 20mph speed limits across city
Birmingham City Council will today discuss plans to make the city's roads safer, including introducing 20mph speed limits across large parts of the city.
Soon after, an inquiry began into traffic-related problems in the city, including road safety, but also covering illegal parking.
The report identified that reducing speed limits would also reduce "the numbers of people killed or seriously injured on roads."
The Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, Councillor Majid Mahmood, has sent a letter to Government requesting a 20mph zone for the whole of Birmingham.
In a statement, Mr Mahmood said that slower speed limits on appropriate roads would reduce collisions and save lives.
"For this reason, our Birmingham Transport Plan sets out that 20mph should be the speed limit in residential areas and where footfall is high," he said.
"Other types of roads will remain unaffected. Additionally, slower speeds are less intimidating towards those who walk or cycle - activities that we need to encourage more of if we are to reduce the number of harmful emissions and traffic levels in the city."
He continued: “Approximately one third of the city’s roads are already subject to a 20mph speed limit. We would like to expand the number of roads subject to this speed limit where appropriate and are currently exploring opportunities to carry this out.”
Cllr Mahmood added in the report that a '20mph zone' in Wales had highlighted there would be “cost implications” for Birmingham council in implementing something similar.
Plans to introduce more 20mph limits in Birmingham must go through a consultation first.
Councillor David Barker, who chaired the inquiry into road safety, says: “Now is the time to follow words with actions and demonstrate to the residents of Birmingham how this council will make changes to deliver safer streets and roads for all of us.”
Outside of these plans, the report highlights several other challenges, including inadequate parking enforcement, insufficient collaboration with local agencies, and delays in putting into place active travel schemes.
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