Cabinet Secretary visits Wrexham as 20mph review progresses
The Cabinet Secretary for Transport and North Wales, Ken Skates has visited Wrexham to hear about the progress the local authority has made as they launch their consultation of 20mph roads that may change back to 30mph.
Wrexham Council has assessed the 20mph roads suggested for review to see which are eligible to be considered for change and will now launch a public consultation as part of the Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) process. The consultation begins today (Friday, December 13).
The Cabinet Secretary met Councillor Bithell, Lead Member for Housing and Climate Change on Chester Road, one of the 52 roads in Wrexham which are proposed to change, to talk about the process of reviewing the 20mph speed limits on roads in the area and see the section of the road that is proposed to go back to 30mph.
Local authorities have been in the process of listening and reviewing feedback from people, business, and communities across Wales to ensure 20mph is targeted on the right roads. This follows the publication of revised guidance by the Welsh Government in July to support them.
The Cabinet Secretary said: “I’m pleased to see Councils listening to people’s views and making progress in reviewing the roads in their areas that they deem could possibly be safely changed back to 30mph. Wrexham is the second local authority to start the statutory process to make changes at a local level and more local authorities will follow in the coming weeks.
“I would like to thank Wrexham County Borough and authorities across Wales for their hard work and dedication.
The principal objective of the policy is to save lives and reduce casualties – and there is widespread evidence it does that, however this is about getting the right speeds on the right roads, building from the broad consensus that 20mph is right where people live, work and play.”
Councillor David A Bithell welcomed the opportunity to discuss the implementation of the 20mph review with the Cabinet Secretary: “Wrexham Council has received positive feedback to revert over 50 roads back to 30mph, subject to statutory consultation. We are starting that process later this week.
“I also welcome the engagement from Welsh Government and in particular the Cabinet Secretary for Transport, Ken Skates, to engage both with the public and Elected Members to address concerns raised.”