Grant award allocated towards delivery of 20 mph programme in Highland

Members of the Council’s Economy and Infrastructure Committee have agreed to allocate up to £200k of the Council’s Cycling, Walking and Safer Routes 2021/22 grant award to the delivery of a new Council 20mph programme, and 10% of this annual budget is to be used in future years.

The introduction of more 20 mph speed limits on Highland roads will help the Council to meet the challenging road casualty reduction targets set out in the new Scottish Road Safety Framework launched in February this year.

Chair of the Economy and Infrastructure Committee, Cllr Trish Robertson said: “Communities across Highland have been asking for lower speed limits for some time. This gives an annual budget to begin to address the wishes of our communities”.

The implementation of any 20 mph speed limit follows a systematic and legal process which includes the analysis of collision data, existing speed surveys, development of the proposal, public consultation, formalisation of the legal Road Traffic Regulation Order (RTRO), implementation on the ground (signs, lining and other works) and making of the legal RTRO.

To ensure fairness and best value, Members also agreed to a proposed assessment criteria to determine the priority for programme delivery.

A report will be brought to a future committee meeting which will consider revised proposals to substantially increase and accelerate the introduction of reduced 20 mph limit schemes in consultation with local communities. This report will also include a revised Assessment Criteria which places more emphasis on the needs of local communities and relies less on collision data.