Speed limit cut despite police objection
A stretch of Redbridge Lane in Nursling will drop from 40 to 30mph
The speed limit on a road in Nursling is being cut and Hampshire County Council said it proves it will take action to keep people safe.
The council has given the green light for the speed limit along a 375-metre stretch of Redbridge Lane in Nursling to be cut from 40mph to 30mph.
By making the change, the council said it will mirror the existing speed limit for the majority of Redbridge Lane, which is 30mph because it is close to residential areas, the Oasis Academy School entrance, the rugby field and the car park entrance to community green space.
As executive lead member for universal services councillor Nick Adams-King declared an interest in the proposal, the executive member for the countryside, councillor Russell Oppenheimer approved the recommendation for the limit to be cut outside the Bodding Avenue estate.
Cllr Oppenheimer said: “For me, it shows that things change. Where we get development housing that affects traffic flows, there is a need to adjust speed limits.
“It also shows that where there is a change in driver behaviour or the requirement, Hampshire is prepared to take action.”
Councillor Adams-King said the £50,000 cost comes from Section 106 money from developers and that the nature of the road has changed “considerably”, including a new housing estate being built.
Cllr Adams-King said: “The cost of this change comes as part of Section 106 agreement, which looks at a change to a junction at the end.
“There’s been a large estate built along this road. One section of it remains 40 mph because it was once a country lane, but since then, there’s both the entrance to a school and two entrances to a big new estate that had been built along it, so the nature of the road changed considerably.
“The cost of the change is tied up with something we talked about a little while ago, which were changes to the junctions on Romsey Road in Nursling, which is also happening. So it’s something that is going to be part of that scheme but still needs to be decided here.”
Police objected to the proposal as it said speed monitoring suggested “that length of road is considered, by drivers, to be a 40mph speed limit”.