How other councils are “miles” ahead of East Dunbartonshire Council on 20mph roads

What is actually going on with 20mph speed limits, and why is East Dunbartonshire so far behind?

Those of us of a certain age will remember the heartbreaking tv adverts of our youth: “it’s 30 for a reason”. 

Well, that’s no longer good enough. Roads are busier, and vehicles are heavier and larger.

A pedestrian is seven times more likely to die if they are hit by a vehicle travelling at 30mph than if they are struck at 20mph. Transport Scotland states that, in 2022, 69% of all pedestrian casualties and 54% of all cyclist casualties occurred on roads with 30mph limits.

Reducing speeds not only provides more reaction and manoeuvrability time, but also reduces severity should a collision occur.

Will 20mph limits really make a difference?

The implementation of 20mph zones has been a hot topic of late. Is it worth it, or is it just an inconvenience to drivers? Won’t it make journeys longer? Will it really make that much of a difference to vulnerable road users? 

Transport Scotland answers a lot of the above questions (and more) here:

FAQ's for Scotland’s National Strategy for 20 mph Speed Limits - Scotlands Road Safety Framework

The short answer is that 20mph limits make an indistinguishable difference to car journeys (less than a minute extra on 5-mile journeys) while protecting vulnerable road users and redressing the balance towards considering all road users equally.

Just this week, insurance company Esure said that drivers in areas with the 20mph limit are likely to see a reduction in their annual insurance premiums of £50 on average because, following the introduction of 20mph limits in Wales, there has been a 20% reduction in the amount of people involved in crashes.

The Scottish Government position

The Scottish Government has committed to 20mph limits on appropriate roads by the end of 2025.

On 13th June, Marie McNair MSP raised a question in the Scottish Parliament, requesting an update from the Scottish Govt on its progress on its national strategy for implementing 20mph limits. 

It was confirmed by the Cabinet Secretary then that all councils had now submitted their assessment of which roads would be appropriate (based on pre-defined criteria, applied consistently) for a 20mph limit and that the 2025 target remains on track.

But you’ll have noticed that East Dunbartonshire hasn’t really implemented any of these yet (and certainly hasn’t publicised them) - we’re happy to be corrected if you know of any.

But other councils are already taking action…

The 32 Councils in Scotland already have the power to pass Traffic Regulation Orders, which includes setting speed limits. However, it can take 18-24 months for a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) to be passed.

So some councils have used Temporary TROs to bring in early implementation of 20mph roads (these last for 18 months). These implement mandatory 20mph limits, not ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ advisory zones.

So, is EDC leading the way?

Well, no.

Back in June, the boilerplate response to our queries was that the Council is in favour of a ‘systematic approach’ (without explaining what that means) and that they are ‘considering’ how to take forward traffic management throughout the council area’.

While we continue to wait for EDC’s plan, here are what some of what the other councils in Scotland have done:

Stirlingshire has 18 Temporary Traffic Orders in place for 20mph limits including in Killearn, Callander, Dunblane, Aberfoyle and parts of Stirling.

In Inverclyde, there are now permanent 20mph limits in parts of Gourock, Greenock, Port Glasgow and Kilmacolm. 

The Highland Council brought in temporary 20mph limits across a swathe of towns and villages (the document is 56 pages long!), including sections of the trunk road network. 

Aberdeen City Council already has 1,203 roads which have 20mph limits, and is proposing to increase this to 2,677.

And, after implementing temporary 20mph limits via Spaces for People, the “clear and obvious safety benefit [has] led to the reduced speed limit being made permanent across the Borders region as of 16 January 2023”.

So this simple safety measure can be done, and done now, if you have a forward thinking and proactive local authority. 

…and what East Dunbartonshire is doing

There is little to no information on the EDC website which sets out what EDC’s plans are to progress things or roll out wider 20mph zones.

So, we used an FOI request to get the data from EDC, to find out which roads are potentially on their suggested 20mph list, and here is the summary:

Of the 302* roads assessed in Bearsden, 281 have been classified as “identified for 20mph” - that’s 93%.

*this only includes roads designated as Bearsden area, some shared roads are not tagged to a specific EDC locality 

Many of these roads are already within the current ‘Twenty’s Plenty’ zones and it isn’t clear if EDC’s strategy will be status quo for these roads or whether the intention is to pass an Order to make 20mph mandatory rather than advisory - hopefully the former.

The “identified for 20mph” list does include (presumably, parts of) Roman Road, Roman Drive, Manse Road, Milngavie Road, Drymen Road and Baljaffray Road.

However, the data does not detail which specific parts of these roads are the proposed zones. For example, Drymen Road also features on the “road to be considered by EDC” and on the “road to remain as is” list. Similarly, clarification is needed for Switchback Road, McFarlane Road, Maryhill Road, Pendicle Road, Station Road and Canniesburn Road, amongst others.

We will continue to push EDC for updates and our local MSPs have also raised this issue with them. 

Our understanding is that 20mph limits were due to be discussed in the August meeting - then it was taken off the agenda, to be discussed in the September meeting. Now we can see that it’s not on September’s agenda either, so it looks like the earliest time for discussion could be October. Meanwhile, other councils have already acted to bring these limits in.

If you also feel that this has been delayed for long enough, you can write to your elected officials and councillors to request that EDC take this issue seriously, and that it be discussed at the October council meeting.

Click the button below to write to your local MSPs and request that this change be prioritised in EDC.