20mph speed limits to be extended on Lerwick roads

SHETLAND Islands Council (SIC) is to expand 20mph speed limits through more of Lerwick’s roads.

The council will introduce lower speed limits through King Harald Street and on the A969 road along Scalloway Road, Commercial Road and North Road.

However it will not include proposed physical traffic calming measures, such as Zebra crossings on King Harald Street and Burgh Road, following a series of complaints.

And plans to reduce speed limits on South Road and Burgh Road have also been stopped for the time being.

The reduced speed limits and plans for measures such as road humps, speed cushions and raised table junctions had drawn strong criticism online.

Members of Lerwick Community Council described the planned changes as “overkill” and more suited to Edinburgh than Lerwick at a meeting in May.

While the installation of three road humps on King Harald Street has been postponed for now, the SIC is going to assess “the effectiveness of the ‘signs only’ 20mph limit”.

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Roads manager Neil Hutcheson said that 57 pieces of correspondence had been sent to the SIC about the plans, 41 of which were classed as objections.

Twenty nine of those were objections to traffic calming measures in general, he told this morning’s (Monday) meeting of the SIC’s environment and transport committee.

Those that raised specific concerns about traffic calming said the speed bumps damaged vehicles, and that they encouraged braking or acceleration – which affected noise and pollution levels.

There were also concerns that these measures would affect emergency service response times.

The roads service commented though that there was “no direct evidence” to support the claim that speed bumps damaged vehicles.

And it said although it was acknowledged that many drivers do brake hard into and accelerate swiftly away from traffic calming features, this was “poor driver behaviour”.

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“The introduction of area wide reduced speed limit zones with an emphasis on evening out speeds across the urban road network should make such driver behaviour less attractive,” it said.

“A smoother, more even driving style that is more constant with the overall 20mph limit will minimise any negative impacts from increased emissions.”

It added that while there will be “some minor delays” to emergency vehicles, there would be “benefits in road casualty reductions arising from substantially reduced vehicle speeds”.

Lerwick South councillor Dennis Leask said he was constantly being asked by town residents “why are we doing this”.

Hutcheson said it was a long-term objective of the SIC to reduce speed limits, and said Lerwick was “largely 20mph” already.

He added that Scalloway was entirely 20mph, and said there were consultations ongoing about parts of Firth and Mossbank.

Shetland South councillor Alex Armitage questioned whether more “vehicle activated signs” – also known as smiley face signs – could be installed in Shetland.

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He said these made a positive impact on reducing driver speeds, and added that these were less contentious than physical traffic calming measures like speed bumps.

Hutcheson said that the SIC has four of these signs, which are set to be installed in areas including Voe and Bixter.

Armitage tabled an amendment to the original motion, asking the SIC not to install traffic calming measures with the exception of more vehicle activated signs.

However he could not find a seconder and the committee instead backed the original motion, to reduce speed limits on King Harald Street, North Road and Scalloway Road.