20mph in Tower Hamlets
Updates:
- 19 March 2015 20mph go live date formally announced as 13 April.
- 12 March 2015 20mph Borough-wide speed limit approved news article.
- 12 March 2015, Transport for London announced they would implement a 20mph speed limit on Commercial Street for a trial period with a view to possibly lowering the speed limit on other TfL roads within the borough.
- 60% of consultation responses were via our online campaign, thank you!
- LBTH Cabinet meeting on 4 February 2015 approved implementing a borough-wide 20mph speed limit.
20mph Borough-wide speed limit proposals
Tower Hamlets council has published proposals for a 20mph speed limit on the borough’s roads. As well as all of the local roads, the council is also including most of those on the Red Route Network (TRLN), managed by Transport for London, for consideration of the reduced limit. This is obviously great news and we are fully supporting these proposals - see our response below.
The consultation period ended on 31 October 2014.
Further 20mph reading
The 20's Plenty for Us campaign website is a comprehensive resource for presenting the case for moving to 20mph as the default speed limit on residential and urban streets. For an introduction, read their frequently asked questions about 20mph.
THW response to 20mph proposals
To: road.safety @ towerhamlets.gov.uk
From: owen @ towerhamletswheelers.org.uk
Subject: Response to LBTH borough-wide 20mph limit proposal
Dear LB Tower Hamlets,
I am writing on behalf of Tower Hamlets Wheelers, the borough group of the London Cycling Campaign with over 450 paid-up members, with regard to designating Tower Hamlets a 20mph borough.
"Improving conditions for cyclists" is one of our group's main objectives and so we naturally fully support the council's proposals to implement a 20mph default speed limit on all borough roads in Tower Hamlets except for the A12 and Limehouse Link/Aspen Way.
We also give our full backing of the proposals to negotiate with Transport for London to set the speed limit on TRLN roads within the borough to also be 20mph. We will be happy to contribute to any such negotiations if required.
We want the roads of our borough to be safer and more pleasant to use when walking and cycling. It is well known that risk of serious injury or death to pedestrians/cyclists in a collision with a motor vehicle increases exponentially with speed [1]. Obviously when travelling at slower speeds, drivers will have more time to engage and react to other road users and are therefore in a much better position to prevent collisions. Setting a borough-wide 20mph speed limit is an important step to reducing collisions and KSIs to vulnerable road users.
We note that 85% of the borough's local roads are already within 20mph zones. However, there is currently not the feeling when walking and cycling around these roads that we are living and travelling in a slower, safer environment.
It is therefore essential that a major part of implementing this lower borough-wide speed limit is providing sufficient resources towards properly promoting it and explaining the need for behavioral change. Ultimately, the speed limit must be enforced. We would surmise that lack of enforcement is part of the current failing of the existing 20mph zones. We therefore request that a commitment to promotion and enforcement be made at the same time as any announcement to go ahead with the 20mph default speed limit.
Finally, we are glad to hear that you would aim to keep additional 20mph signage to a minimum. We assume also there will be many cases where existing signage in 20mph zones will actually be able to be removed so helping to de-clutter residential streets.
We look forward to a 20mph borough-wide speed limit being implemented and the quality of life travelling around the borough greatly improved.
regards
Owen Pearson
Co-ordinator, Tower Hamlets Wheelers
[1]
If someone is hit by a car at 40 mph they are 90% likely to be killed.
If someone is hit by a car at 30 mph they are 50% likely to be killed.
If someone is hit by a car at 20 mph they are 10% likely to be killed.
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