A parish council near Knaresborough has written to 32 North Yorkshire county councillors urging them to make 20mph the default speed limit in their area.
Goldsborough and Flaxby Parish Council said in the email action should be taken now to reduce the current 30mph limit before somebody is killed.
The council wrote the letter in support of the 20s Plenty campaign, which is a national initiative to make a 20mph speed limit normal on residential streets and in town and village centres.
The email says drivers “put their foot down” in Goldsborough even though it has a primary school. It adds that only about 15% of all the roads have pavements on both sides, forcing them to walk on the highways,
The red arrow shows the playground entrance in Goldsborough.
It adds:
“There is a high proportion of elderly residents in Goldsborough, many of whom may have hearing issues and reduced sight, and are physically less able to move out of the way quickly.
“There are not many street lights in the village and, as such, at dusk or in the dark, it is not easy for drivers to see people walking in or crossing the roads.”
Flaxby speed signs ‘in wrong place’
The email says the current 30mph signs in Flaxby “are completely in the wrong place, and drivers have already entered the village before they see the speed signs and even think about slowing down”.
It adds a speed survey in 2018 revealed 17.5% of motorists travelled over the 30mph speed limit. The correspondence also raises concerns about the lack of street lighting and the number of HGVs driving through the village to visit the weigh-station at Gill’s Farm, just past Coneythorpe.
HGVs often go along Shortsill Lane in Flaxby, which has no pavements.
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The email says:
“Do you really need to wait until somebody is killed by a car speeding through a North Yorkshire village before you begin to tackle this important issue?”
North Yorkshire County Council is the highways authority for the county. The parish council wrote to 32 county councillors that sit on boards, panels and committees that could influence speeding decisions.
Caroline Greenhalgh, vice chairman of the parish council, told the Stray Ferret it had received just two responses from councillors so far, saying the matter was being considered.
