Campaigner calls on council to introduce default 20mph speed limit in Cambridge

A campaigner has called for a default 20mph speed limit in Cambridge after telling councillors she does not “feel safe” on the city’s roads.

Speaking at a meeting of Cambridge City Council’s planning and transport scrutiny committee yesterday (Tuesday, January 11), Diane Fitzmaurice asked members to support making the city safer for vulnerable road users by reducing the default speed limit.

She said a 20mph speed limit was recommended on urban roads by The United Nations, The World Health Organisation and Public Health England, and that it would help prevent casualties.

Ms Fitzmaurice, coordinator of 20s Plenty Cambridgeshire, said: “Everyday across the city of Cambridge vulnerable road users mix with motor traffic on roads that have a speed limit of 30mph, however best practice on such roads is to have a 20mph speed limit.

“A default 20mph speed limit reduces stopping distance by 50 percent, that is three car lengths instead of six car lengths, and it prevents around 20 percent of casualties.

“As a vulnerable road user on Cambridge’s 30mph roads, I feel unsafe. Crash map data and reports in the local press tell an unhappy story about these roads.

“I feel unsafe because these urban 30mph roads are unsafe.”

Ms Fitzmaurice, who told the Cambridge Independent about her concerns last year, added that there is a growing body of research to suggest that “damage to health caused by exposure to traffic noise is likely to be far greater than damage caused as a result of collisions”.

She also argued that a reduced speed limit will encourage active travel and create more liveable neighbourhoods, with reduced pollution.

Ms Fitzmaurice asked the committee to “prioritise the lives of vulnerable road users” by supporting the adoption of 20mph speed limits for the

Councillor Katie Thornburrow, executive councillor for planning policy and transport, responding said the city council does welcome lower speed limits “where appropriate”.

She went one to explain the work done by the city council between 2012 and 2016, working with Cambridgeshire County Council and Cambridgeshire Constabulary to introduce a 20mph limit in some residential and shopping streets in the city.

Cllr Thornburrow said: “We undertook extensive traffic and speed monitoring work, consulted widely across the city with all residents, known stakeholders and representative organisations and made recommendations to the county council on changes following detailed consideration of the findings with our four area committees, environment scrutiny committee, and the then executive councillor for planning policy and transport.

“While there was overall support for the changes we undertook, they were not without opposition and the council needed to ensure that decisions taken were consistent with national and local guidance and the policy of key partners and were supported by a strong evidence base.

“Some five or more years on, I believe we were successful in our objectives both in reducing traffic speed, but also in influencing culture and expectation.

“While there are still busy roads subject to higher maximum speed controls we were able to introduce 20mph across more than 85 percent of the city’s road networks and this lower level now feels much more the accepted norm than previously.”

Cllr Thornburrow also highlighted the consultation run by the Greater Cambridge Partnership on its plans to “radically transform” the access to the city, which she said is expected to include a review of road hierarchy and classification where there is the potential to consider further reductions and traffic speed controls.