20mph Programme

Programme details

Timetable  

The programme will be rolled out from June 2023. Advanced notice will be provided to communities before the new trial is introduced in their town or village. The first signs to go up will be entrances to the village/town.

When all 20mph signage is in place in the community this will become enforceable.

Discussions are ongoing with Transport Scotland around whether trunk roads are included in the 20mph trial

Funding

The benefit of agreeing to become an early adopter is that Transport Scotland will fully fund the implementation of 20mph speed limits around the council network (signing and lining only at this stage). This is a significant financial investment to the local authority. 

The funding cannot be used to repair roads. The money is for temporary measures and cannot be spent on works that require excavations such as those needed for cycle paths.

Communications

We are carrying out a communications campaign and aiming to work with schools to highlight the changes and the potential benefits. We receive regular communications from members of the public, community councils and other community groups requesting that we reduce speed limits to encourage more walking and cycling.

We will be carrying out community council surveys followed by an online public consultation in 2024 which will form part of the overall evaluation report that will go to Council meeting in late 2024 or early 2025. A final decision will be made on which streets should be retained at 20mph or revert back to 30mph. 

The remaining six months of the trial will be used to implement any permanent changes. As part of this trial there will be a comprehensive analysis of pedestrian, cycle and vehicle accidents within the 20/30mph speed limits and this data will be made available to the public.

School pupils and parents will also be surveyed to determine if the 20mph has made any difference to their travel to and from school and their social activities in the evenings, weekends and holidays.

20mph Programmes - Examples Elsewhere

Throughout the UK the culture around 20mph speed limits is changing towards more extensive and default coverage. 20mph speed limits are in force in many of the medium and larger cities in Britain and more and more rural authorities are introducing larger scale extended 20mph programmes including:

• Bristol
• East Lothian
• Edinburgh
• Glasgow
• Liverpool
• Midlothian
• Oxford
• Perth and Kinross
• Portsmouth
• Scottish Borders
• Sheffield
• West Lothian

Wales is about to embark on a national default 20mph programme.