Manchester City Council is to evaluate the roll-out of 20mph zones in Manchester in a move that could be duplicated across the country.
The Council’s Executive approved a report that while recommending that additional measures to create safer roads across the city should be considered, work is undertaken to better understand the full benefits of creating further 20mph zones.
20mph zones on more than 1,000 roads and 138 schools have been introduced in Manchester and, since 2014, an average speed reduction of 0.7mph has been recorded where the lower speed limit is in effect.
However, analysis shows that so far, the amount of accidents experienced in 20mph zones has not fallen as quickly as initially hoped.
The number of pedestrian casualties in road accidents across the whole of Manchester dropped by around a third from 2012-14 to 2014 -16, but in three areas where 20mph zones have been introduced, casualty figure dropped by less – 23 per cent in Gorton, 16 per cent in Miles Platting and Newton Heath and 14 per cent in Moss Side and Fallowfield.
The number of cyclists hurt in accidents fell by more than 40 per cent across the city between 2012-14 and 2014-16, but reductions were lower in the 20mph zones studied – 16 per cent in Gorton, 12 per cent in Miles Platting and Newton Heath and 12 per cent in Moss Side and Fallowfield.
The report recommended that more work is required over a longer period of time, to accurately assess the benefits of 20mph zones.
While more evidence is gathered, it recommends that a further £687,000 in grant funding which is currently available to the council for road safety purposes could be used to pay for alternative schemes, such as new traffic calming measures and pedestrian crossings, plus new measures to improve safety around the city’s schools.
Support for the development of further 20mph zones through community-led projects, such as Community Speedwatch groups, is also recommended in the report.
The move by the council though has been criticised by the campaign group 20’s Plenty For Us who said that the Manchester research had been misinterpreted.
It said accident rates on some residential streets depended on “very low sample sizes”, which made comparisons to busier roads almost meaningless.
Rod King, the group’s founder, said: “20mph limits are recognised around the world, including by the World Health Organisation, as the appropriate speed where pedestrians and cyclists can mix with motor vehicles.”
