Westmorland and Furness Council’s highways and transport strategic board at a meeting held in Kendal on Tuesday afternoon, approved the new process and criteria for communities to request 20mph speed limits and zones in residential areas, towns and villages across the Westmorland and Furness district.
20mph speed limits in Westmorland and Furness was identified as one of the new council’s key priorities to deliver as requests come forward through the local council ward members or parish and town councils.
Implementation of each 20mph scheme will require the creation of new traffic regulation orders to introduce the reduced speed limit with consultation undertaken within each community as part of the making of the orders by Westmorland and Furness Council.
In July 2021 Penrith Town Council supported a campaign by Evolve Penrith to introduce a Penrith wide 20mph zone in the town. The council voted to call on the former Cumbria County Council to create the 20mph zone. It’s understood the former Cumbria County Council had started work on looking at the implantation of a Penrith wide 20mph zone work that has now passed to the new Westmorland and Furness Council deliver.
Other local communities have also requested the new council looks at create 20mph speed limits on sections of roads around the Penrith area .
The centre of Penrith is already a 20mph zone with many other roads around Penrith also 20mph with a mix of 30mph and 40mph limits between.
Councillor Peter Thornton, Cabinet Member for Highways and Assets, said: “Our communities want people to be respectful when they are travelling through their town or village and introducing a new 20mph policy is meeting a pledge that we have made, it is something that we have heard repeatedly from our communities that they want us to be doing. This will be a new policy that has come from the ground up and we know it has support from our residents."
Calls have also been made for individual roads in Penrith not already covered by 20mph limits to be considered if a Penrith wide 20mph zone is not implemented by Westmorland and Furness Council.
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