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news
City_of_London_20mph_zonesCentral London’s Square Mile to become 20mph zone in July
The City of London will become a 20mph zone in July following a vote by the corporation’s transport committee this week.
The new limit is part of the City’s road danger reduction plan, something we first reported on in 2011, and will be reinforced on all the roads bounding the square mile with the exception of those in Westminster.
Upper Thames Street, which is a Transport for London road, will remain 30mph, but other TfL roads, between Blackfriars Bridge and Farringdon Street and between Norton Folgate and London Bridge, pictured above in pink, will be 20mph as part of an experiment into road safety.
It is thought that the scheme could reduce road casualties by as much as seven per cent.
Michael Welbank, chairman of the planning and transportation committee told Transport Network: ‘I am pleased that [the 20mph scheme] has now cleared this last hurdle to its implementation.
“For the City of London to continue its success as an international business hub it is critical that its streets should be safe for all who use them be they commuters, pedestrians, cyclists, drivers, motorcyclists, shoppers or cultural wanderers and dreamers.’
Other measures being adopted by the City of London include junction redesigns, contra-flow cycle routes and new pedestrian crossings with countdowns.
Of course 20mph zones still need to be policed, and late last year we reported a crackdown in Oxford, where up till recently police only issued tickets to drivers doing more than 32mph in 20mph zones, but was dropped to 24mph under new guidelines from the Association of Chief Police Officers.
The changes mean drivers pinged doing between 24 and 31mph would be offered the choice of £100 fine and three licence points, or a £95 speed awareness course and no points.
Between 31mph and 34mph they could be fined and over 35mph could find themselves in court.
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18 comments
Never mind whether the limit is 20mph or 30mph.
Never mind whether the limit will be enforced.
Never mind whether any limit applies to cyclists.
Accidents between road users in London do not happen on straight roads. Statistics show overwhelmingly that they happen at junctions, between HGVs/buses and cyclists. THAT is the issue that this pointless "rearranging of the deckchairs" completely and catastrophically ignores.
That may be so, but that's not what will kill any of us that actually know how to ride safely/defensively etc.
Education is what's needed to stop the HGV squishing a cyclist while doing a left turn... and better mirrors as a legal requirement.
@cyclingDMlondon
had a number of similiar exchanges with Met Police
LB of Camden moved to borough wide 20mph speed limit last year.
Camden borough Police commander admitted in an interview with the local paper (Camden New Journal) he does not have the resources to police this speed limit
rarely see any Police on the street in London, only when rushing to emergencies.
frequently see all road users (private vehicles, public vehicles, goods vehicles, motorbikes and pedal cyclists) ignoring ASL, red lights, give way junctions, pedestrian crossings, speeding, cyclists on pavements, cyclists going against 1 way traffic, cyclists going through groups of pedestrians on crossings, etc.
the ASL's are a real joke, motor vehicles even Police regularly stop in them, even when cyclists are present
Road policing in London is a joke, and seems to have gotten worse in past few years (I've been commuting by bike for 15+ year in London). Leads to a general sense of lawlessness, and people soon realise this.
Most effective thing that could be done is TFL's current move to have the Government decriminalise the ASL, so they can move to making ASL infringement a civil offence triggered by installation of cameras. At the moment it has to be witnessed by a Police Officer, which means there is no enforcement unless they are doing a "special PR operation".
Nothing like hitting people in the wallet, to change their behaviour.
Agree with both edster99 and cyclingDMlondon above.
I ride in London all the time, but rarely in the centre of town during working hours. The difference in driver attitude from the centre at rush hour, to outer London during quieter hours of the day is pretty extreme.
Once you take drivers away from the congestion and stress they're markedly more relaxed. That's probably true of my own driving, I hate having to use the car when the roads are busy. That's also why you need enforcement to target the problem where it's worst.
20mph, I ride faster than this, so not good.
Won't make the blindest bit of difference. Most of the time the traffic struggles to reach 20mph anyway and I'm willing to bet it won't be policed either - unless they have a couple of their well-publicised "crackdowns".
I doubt as a cyclist you'll notice any change.
Shouldn't make any difference to cyclists - speed limits don't apply unless there's a specific bylaw in place, like Richmond Park
You have nothing to worry about, speed limits do not apply to bicycle riders.
I was whizzing down the road at up to 41mph, did the car behind stick to 30mph or did they stick behind me.
I think you know the answer.
Surely they can make speed cameras the size of mobile phones and costing the same, solar or grid powered, uploading via 3g, using GPS for timing accuracy.
Ditto. This morning. Coming down Haverstock Hill - which is actually already a 20 mph zone.
Totally meaningless without policing.
Neither. Drivers MUST get in front of the bike so they overtook you. Right? That's what happens everywhere else.
No, not everywhere else. Maybe everywhere else in London - I don't know as I don't live there. But not all drivers are twats. In my experience, about 40% are, and the rest are OK. I was marshalling a TT yesterday, and a lorry stopped to ask me if there were a lot more bikes, and when I said there would be he said 'ok i'll go back a different way.' So credit where its due.
Brilliant if enforced. I can't think of any borough in London that has ever bothered.
Pretty much zero impact on traffic, except to stop drives sprinting between lights. The LTDA are probably trying to work out whether to hate it or love it ("sorry guv'nor, this is as fast as I can go. It's the new speed limit, all the fault of them cyclists/immigrants/minicabs.").
the speed limit on the Embankment is 30? Who knew!
20 mph zone yipee great IF and only IF it is policed, which given the budget restrictions etc etc
The revenue from Addison Lee drivers alone will build a 100'-high solid gold statue of Boris on a zipwire.
Boris has nothing to do with the City. It's not a London borough, it's not even part of the UK. It's a private corporation with its own laws outside those of England. It's like the Vatican.
Boris runs the Vatican? Really?