Temporary 50mph speed limit installed at Levenwick
A TEMPORARY 50 mile per hour speed limit has been installed in Levenwick.
Signs went up in the area yesterday (Tuesday), with the new speed limit in effect from today.
Councillors backed the move in March of this year, with the road to go back up to 60mph once further safety improvements have been made to the road.
Improvements to the A970 at Levenwick is second on the SIC’s list of major road programmes behind the planned replacement of the Cullivoe road in Yell.
A full widening of the road has previously been proposed, but another possible option could be to install barriers and improve the blind summit, which would bring improvements to the road quicker.
However South Mainland councillor Allison Duncan – a long-time supporter of improvements to the road, which he has labelled a “death trap” – said today that more needed to be done.
It comes less than two weeks after a police officer was struck on the Levenwick stretch of road while responding to an earlier road incident.
Duncan, speaking as chairman of the community safety and resilience board at its Wednesday morning meeting, questioned if more safety measures were needed in light of those incidents.
Chief Inspector Chris Sewell said he could not comment on the specifics of the incident.
However, he confirmed to the board that the police officer who was struck was now “on the mend”.
He said the Levenwick incidents would, in his mind, “warrant further discussions and further analysis”.
Sewell added that everyone needed to come together to see “what we could do to make that stretch of road safer”.
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Ian Simmins, from Levenwick, wrote to Shetland News early last month questioning what had happened to the installation of the temporary 50mph speed limit.
He said it was “only a matter of time before I’m walking a flat dog”.
In response, Shetland Islands Council said: “Contractors working for the council have been busy with urgent repair work in recent weeks.
“Once these are complete, the installation of 50mph speed limit signs at Levenwick and 40mph signs at Voe are a priority. They should be in place toward the end of this month.”
Roads manager Neil Hutcheson confirmed the Levenwick speed limit was now in effect today, adding the 40mph signs at Voe would be installed “in the next week or two”.
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