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08
Apr
Council issues update on speed reduction on A61 at South Stainley
New 50mph speed limit signs will be installed on the A61 at South Stainley later this month, North Yorkshire Council has confirmed.
The council’s environment directorate approved plans to reduce the speed limit from 60mph to 50mph on the stretch of road between Ripon and Ripley last November.
A report prepared for council officials at the time said traffic surveys undertaken in October 2023 concluded the existing mean speeds of 46mph northbound and 47mph southbound meant a 50mph speed limit would be suitable.
The only exception would be at Wormald Green, where the limit is already 40mph.
The decision followed a spate of fatal collisions on the road in 2023 – two of which happened within just eight days of each other – and the Stray Ferret has covered residents’ concerns over road safety on the A61 extensively.
A 59-year-old motorist died on the road in August of that year, followed by the deaths of a Ukrainian family, who were killed in three-vehicle crash near South Stainley just over a week later.
Lucjan Wilk was struck by a car after getting off the bus on the road near Knox Mill Lane in November 2023.
His inquest was held last month. The Stray Ferret recently published a plea by his daughter, Paulina, to reduce the speed limit on the road between Harrogate and Killinghall.
Most recently, a Ripon man in his mid-80s named Vincent Kane was killed following a collision on the A61 on Saturday evening.
Six months have passed since the council approved plans to reduce the speed limit on the A61 at South Stainley, but there has been little discernible change.
The Stray Ferret contacted North Yorkshire Council for an update and asked when the new speed limit will come into play.
A council spokesperson today said the speed limit signs are due to be introduced later this month after the legal traffic regulation order was approved in March.
The spokesperson did not provide a specific date.
Overtaking lane
Sir Julian Smith, Conservative MP for Skipton and Ripon, last year called on the council to take further action to improve road safety on the A61.
Sir Julian supported a campaign to reduce the speed limit on the road led by a South Stainley woman whose parents were killed in a collision nearly 13 years ago.
However, he urged the authority’s chief executive, Richard Flinton, to also consider removing the overtaking lane on the A61 at South Stainley.
In a letter to the council at the time, Sir Julian said:
I would also ask the council to look at the removal of the overtaking lane at South Stainley. This was another key request from a meeting I held with constituents and wrote to you about in October last year.
The overtaking lane is still in operation.
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