Six villages getting new 30mph limits

Roads in and around six Herefordshire villages are to get speed limits cut to 30 miles per hour.

Under a raft of newly approved traffic regulation orders (TROs), Herefordshire Council will limit the following stretches of road to the same maximum speed:

·       The speed limit along the B4260 Wilton Road between Ross-on-Wye and the village of Wilton across the river Wye to the west to the A40 roundabout is being cut from 40 to 30mph, along with Wilton Lane and Fisherman’s Reach within the village.

·       The limit along B4234 between Kerne Bridge and the river Wye is also being dropped from 40 to 30 mph. But this an “experimental” TRO, which will not remain in place after 18 months if found not to have been effective.

·       The current 40mph limit on the C1019 through the village of Leinthall Starkes between Wigmore and Ludlow is being dropped to 30mph throughout.

·       The 30mph speed limit in Weobley between Hereford and Kington is being extended outwards along three approach roads, the B4230 Mill Bank to the west, the C1093 Gadbridge Road to the northeast, and the C1094 Burtonwood to the southeast.

·       The 30mph limit through the village of Burghill northwest of Hereford is being extended along the unclassified road southward beyond the houses known as The Steppes.

·       A 30mph limit is also being brought in along the minor Roman Road west of the nearby village of Stretton Sugwas, where currently the national speed limit of 60mph applies.

The council’s decision notices point out that, according to Department for Transport guidance, “Fear of traffic can affect people’s quality of life in villages, and it is self-evident that villages should have comparable speed limits to similar roads in urban areas.

“It is therefore government policy that a 30mph speed limit should be the norm through villages.”

The council has put the total cost of the six measures at around £128,000, including consultations with councillors, officials and the public.