The Oxford Times
          February 15th 2010

20mph limit in Abingdon town centre approved despite police and town council objections

        Herald Reporter

NEW 20mph speed limits in Abingdon town centre have been approved — despite opposition from police and the town council. Measures to cut limits for town centre roads from 30mph to 20mph were rubberstamped, although critics claimed they were unnecessary and should be placed outside schools instead.

Thames Valley Police wrote to Oxfordshire County Council before its meeting last Thursday to object to the proposals on the grounds that the new limit would have no effect without traffic-calming measures. But the council approved the scheme, which will see limits on 24 of the town’s roads reduced at a cost of £7,000.

Abingdon Town Council leader Lesley Legge said: “Initially, the town council thought a reduction would be a good idea, but when the police said it would cause problems, we began to wonder if it was worthwhile and objected to it. We appreciate 20mph limits can alert drivers to entering an area where there are many pedestrians who are needing to cross the roads, but we have concerns over the problems with enforcement.”

Steve King, 59, who owns several properties in the area, said: “When the police spoke out against the change and they were ignored, we just knew it was going to be a foregone conclusion and didn’t even attend the council meeting. I would rather see the limits outside the schools instead of in the town, where you can’t get above 15mph anyway.”

But Mark Kelly, deputy manager at The Nags Head, in Bridge Street, said: “It’s a good decision because there’s been enough times when I’ve seen people racing at 40mph or faster. There are kids here crossing the road to go to football and at the bottom is a car park where all the boy racers hang out and if this will cut down on that, then I’m all for it.”

David Staines, a spokesman for Thames Valley Police, said: “The force agrees with the Association of Chief Police Officers’ position on the introduction of lower speed limits, which is that 20mph should only be sought where there is a need to protect residents, particularly children, and the road is either engineered to encourage compliance and/or the mean speed now is 24mph and below. “Roads subject to a 20mph limit should be self-enforcing and the design and road engineering needs to help motorists appreciate that the road is subject to a lower limit, thereby helping law-abiding motorists to comply with the new limits. “Simply putting a different number at the end of the road and relying on enforcement alone to achieve compliance is not the answer.”

He said: “The current vehicle speeds in Abingdon town centre do not fall within the recommended mean speed of 24mph or below — therefore, we feel that additional traffic calming or engineering would be required to reduce speeds to within a 20mph limit. “Unfortunately, the highways authority does not currently propose to include this in their proposal.”