Call for ‘incredibly dangerous’ Lerwick road to have speed reduced
KING HARALD Street in Lerwick has been described as “incredibly dangerous” for young children to cross.
That view has come from Lerwick councillor Stephen Leask, who has resoundingly backed council plans to reduce speed limits around the town to 20mph.
However, King Harald Street is not one of the roads which would be reduced under the plans being put forward by Shetland Islands Council (SIC).
The SIC is proposing to reduce the speed limits on the majority of residential roads around the town to 20mph, with a consultation on the change closing later this week.
Community councillors asked for the 20mph limit to be introduced on every road around the town.
The council wants to make the change on “appropriate roads” around Lerwick “in the interests of road safety”.
It comes as part of a Scotland-wide move to continue the roll out of 20mph limits in built-up areas, with Scalloway another area which has consulted on the plans.
The North and South roads would remain as 30mph limits, with Commercial Road changing to 20mph at the Marlex pub.
Councillors heard in late November that parts of Voe, Mossbank, Virkie and Baltasound in Unst could also see lower speed limits in the near future.
Monday’s meeting of the Lerwick Community Council considered the plans to reduce limits in the town, and gave the suggestions their backing.
Leask, who represents Lerwick North and Bressay on the SIC, said King Harald Street was one example of a road which was “incredibly dangerous” for young children to cross.
He pointed to the adjacent play park as a reason for lower speed limits in town being required.
King Erik Street, which passes through the opening to both the play park and Lerwick flower park, would become a 20mph road.
Referring to the Tom Cruise film about a police department which targets criminals before crimes are committed, Leask said: “We’re not looking at any sort of Minority Report response to this.”
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Community council chairman Jim Anderson agreed that it was a “busy junction” at King Harald Street.
However, he said he felt it was a “waste of money” – particularly if speed bumps throughout the town are removed as well.
And Anderson pointed to the fact that King Harald Street will remain a 30mph zone if the change goes ahead, adding: “The one bit of road that would have benefitted from this is not even included.”
Despite Anderson’s comments members felt that, if the speed limits were to be reduced, the physical speed bumps would need to be taken away too.
The move towards lower speed limits comes amid a Scottish Government push for speed limits in cities, towns and villages to be reduced to 20mph where appropriate.
It has said that reducing the limit reduces the risk of collisions, and reduces the severity of injuries in any collision.
Community councillor Amanda Hawick said she had recently been on 20mph roads in London, which had been a less stressful experience.
Leask agreed, saying he had driven through Aviemore on similarly lower limited roads in the past few months.
He said he “really felt quite strongly” that the SIC needed to reduce speed limits to “make the roads safer for people in Lerwick”.
The SIC is consulting on the changes until Friday, with councillors set to discuss the possibility of lower speed limits in the coming months.
Anyone who wants to object to the proposals must send in their objections to the council’s roads department by 4pm on Friday.
More details about the proposed changes are available to view here.
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