New policy to help make Shropshire’s roads safer

A new road safety policy is being proposed in light of new national guidance, and to provide a framework for how any new speed limits or safety measures are introduced. 

The Road Safety Policy will form the basis of a new process that will take account of both accident data analysis and community-led concerns. 

It will supercede Shropshire Council’s current policies on village speed limits, rural speed limits and vehicle-activated signs.  Previous Shropshire policies set out prescriptive lists of what roads were going to have reduced speed limits, which was linked to accidents, but did not determine whether a speed limit was the most appropriate action.

The proposed Road Safety Policy framework enables consideration to be given to whether a new speed limit will best address a defined problem, or whether other measures would be more successful. 

Simon Jones, Shropshire Council’s Cabinet member responsible for transport and highways, said:

“Speeding traffic is often one of the main concerns for communities, and improving road safety is high on the list of the council’s priorities.  With that in mind, it’s important that speed limits are managed consistently across the county to make sure they do what they’re supposed to do – that is, make the road safer.”

The draft policy has been considered by Shropshire Council local councillors and parish and town councils since November 2012, and was discussed by Shropshire Council’s enterprise and growth scrutiny committee in January 2013.

Shropshire Council’s Cabinet will consider the proposed policy at its meeting on Wednesday 20 February 2013.

The report can be viewed here.