Call to roll out Glasgow 20mph speed limits after 'serious spike' in deaths

Calls have been made for the roll-out of 20mph speed limits to be accelerated following a “serious spike” in deaths on Glasgow’s roads.

Glasgow City Council is planning to implement a citywide 20mph mandatory limit on the majority of roads to improve safety and encourage active travel.

At a full council meeting last week, Bailie Christy Mearns, Greens, asked transport convener, Cllr Angus Millar, SNP, if the project could be “accelerated in light of the serious spike in road fatalities”.

There have been several tragedies in recent months, with more deaths on the roads already in 2023 than last year.

Cllr Millar said the question “reflects the concerns this council shares around road safety in this city, particularly given the recent instances of road fatalities”.

He said the SNP administration has “long expressed its support for the expansion of 20mph speed limits”. Cllr Millar said it would “create more pleasant streets and neighbourhoods by providing a more equitable balance between different road users”.

The transport convener added an assessment of the existing road network is needed before a “citywide mandatory 20mph scheme” is introduced.

“The assessment process is required to fully work through each particular street and all the different technical considerations which require to be taken into account,” he said.

“The final plan of which roads will be 20mph or not cannot be known until this technical assessment is complete.”

National funding for the roll-out has been allocated and matched by the council. However, Cllr Millar said: “Unfortunately both recruitment and procurement related to this programme have taken longer than the council would have liked.”

The council is now in the process of recruiting a project manager and is “continuing discussions with transport consultants to undertake the required road assessments”.

Cllr Millar said the council will “make every effort” to deliver the programme “in as short a time period as possible”.

Bailie Mearns asked whether “options to speed this work up be considered given the unsafe nature of many of our roads” and Bailie Anthony Carroll, Greens, asked how communities can highlight “hotspots” to the council.

Cllr Millar said there isn’t a “full timescale in terms of the phasing at the moment of the roll-out of 20mph” as the assessment of roads needs to be completed. Community input would be considered at that stage.

He added councillors would be updated once that work has been done. “This is something we are very much committed to moving forward as quickly as possible.”