More areas have 20mph residential roads approved

20mph sign

From left, Cllr Marcus Harris (Mayor of Wallingford), Cllr Katharine Keats-Rohan (Wallingford Town Council), Cllr Pete Sudbury (Cabinet Member for Climate Change and Environment at Oxfordshire County Council), and Cllr Tim Bearder (Cabinet Member for Highways Management at Oxfordshire County Council) unveil the new 20mph signs in Wallingford Central

Eleven towns and villages will become the latest Oxfordshire locations to see speed limits in most residential areas reduced to 20mph.

On 17 November, Oxfordshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Highway Management, Councillor Andrew Gant, approved 11 new 20mph schemes across the county. The changes will see the majority of 30mph roads cut to 20mph.

Cllr Gant said: “The requests for these 20mph measures have come in thick and fast. The first two years of this three-year project are now fully booked, but we are still welcoming applications for 2024 - 25.

“Communities have been keen to make their roads safer and we are delighted to have been able to make it easier for them to do so.”

The latest locations to be approved are:

Ambrosden
Banbury (a new residential development on land west of A423 Southam Road)
Bladon
Brize Norton
Clanfield
Horton-cum-Studley
Idbury
Merton
Piddington
Sonning Common
Sunningwell and Bayworth.

A decision on implementing 20mph limits in Abingdon was deferred until a later date to ensure that the needs of all highway users are met in an effective manner.

There is a clear link between the speed of traffic and the likelihood of accidents leading to deaths or serious injuries. You are seven times more likely to survive if you are hit by a car driving at 20mph than if you are hit at 30mph.

The scheme is free to town and parish councils, with the county council funding sign-only changes for areas wishing to be part of the changes as long as locations meet the agreed criteria for 20mph restrictions.

Town and parish councils will be expected to fund any traffic calming measures or speed-activated signs that may be required to support the new limit in their areas.

More information, including a timetable of where and when forthcoming projects are taking place, is available on Oxfordshire County Council’s website.

The 20mph programme also fits in with the council’s Vision Zero policy, which aims to eliminate all deaths and serious injuries from Oxfordshire’s roads by 2050.

Following confusion caused by the implementation of reduced speed limits in Witney earlier this month, robust measures have been put in place by the council and its contractors to prevent similar issues happening again elsewhere.

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