20MPH update

Many of you will have heard that the Welsh Government announced a review of 20mph areas across Wales.

Residents who have a view on a particular area in Rhondda Cynon Taf CBC can ask RCT Council to review the position. This could be to ask for a review to change to 30mph or to support the retention of the 20mph limit.

The following is a summary of a statement from them about the current position and what residents can do.

“The Council is currently awaiting the revised ‘Place Making’ Criteria / ‘Setting Speed Limits on Local Roads in Wales’ guidance note from the Welsh Government.

When available, this will enable the Authority to review requests from the Public which call for the implementation of higher speed limits on roads previously identified by the Welsh Government as automatically defaulting to 20mph.

Until such time that this policy is reviewed and issued by the Welsh Government,Rhondda Cynon Taf Council are unable to consider further requests for the implementation of 30mph speed limits on routes that automatically defaulted to 20mph on the 17th September 2023.

It should be noted that they were implemented in line with the current Welsh Government 20mph policy and the current criteria are below:

The following ‘Place’ criteria have been developed to guide highway authorities to determine, in a consistent way across Wales, which sections of roads may have significant demands for people walking and cycling:

• Within a 100m walk of any educational setting (e.g. primary, secondary, further education and higher education
• Within 100m walk of any community centre
• Within 100m walk of any hospital
• Where the number of residential and/or retail premises fronting a road exceeds 20 properties per km.

Two Principal Questions, A and B below, should be considered by highway authorities when deciding whether a 30mph exception should be made:

• A – Are there significant numbers (or potential numbers, if speeds were lower) of pedestrians and cyclists travelling along or across the road?
  • If the answer to A is “no” then an exception for a 30mph speed limit may be appropriate
• B – If the answer to A is ‘yes’, are the pedestrians and cyclists mixing with motor traffic?
  • If the answer to B is “no” then a 30mph speed limit exception may be appropriate

Since its implementation on the 17thSeptember 2023, RCT Council has been reviewing all requests from the Public and elected officials. Where these requests overlap with areas previously consulted on with Members (as part of the 20mph
Member consultation in April / May 2023), the Council has requested and received funding to undertake a review of these specific areas.

However, the Council is unable to undertake this review until such time that the revised guidance notes /
20mph policy is issued to the Highway Authority.

The Council is now compiling a list of areas / streets where the Public have indicated that the 20mph speed limit is not appropriate and the Council will be seeking additional funding to review these areas, as the cost of reviewing and
implementing these changes will far exceed the Council’s Traffic Management budget.

Should members of the public wish to write to the Council’s traffic team on this matter, they can do so via the Council’s website https://customerportal.rctcbc.gov.uk/20mphSpeedZoneForm