A NEW 20mph and traffic calming scheme is due to be put in place covering dozens of residential streets in Spinney Hills.
Leicester City Council has approved the work following consultations with local residents in 29 streets in the area surrounding Spinney Hill Primary School, off St Saviours Road.
The work will cost around £100,000 and will include bringing in a 20mph speed limit, along with physical traffic-calming measures to improve road safety.
The scheme will cover streets including Shipley Road, Rowsley Avenue, Bradbourne Road, Kedleston Road between Chesterfield Road and northwards to the cul de sac, a section of Staveley Road between Chesterfield Road and Kedleston Road, Marina Road, Nansen Road and a section of Evington Valley Road between its junctions with Gwendolen Road and Ethel Road.
The whole length of Gwendolen Road is also included as well as the streets to its north, such as Moat Road, Orson Street, Ventnor Street, Blanklyn Avenue, Stanhope Street, Osborne Road, Dorothy Road, Linden Street, Constance Road, Margaret Road, Gedding Road, Drinkstone Road, Suffolk Street, Bradfield Close, Crown Hills Rise, Hillcroft Road, The Circle and The Approach, Kegworth Avenue and The Retreat.
Physical traffic-calming measures will include a number of speed cushions, road humps at existing zebra crossings and some footpath widening.
Detailed designs for the scheme are due to be drawn up with the view to bringing in the measures this summer.
In a consultation with local residents carried out last year, 84 percent were in favour of bringing in the scheme, with 76 percent supporting the traffic-calming measures.
The city council has been introducing 20mph zones over the last 10 years in neighbourhoods, often near schools, where residents have requested them. By improving safety for all road users, 20mph zones are a key part of the city council’s commitment to encourage more people to cycle or walk instead of using cars for local journeys including the school run.
Leicester deputy city mayor for environment and transportation, Cllr Adam Clarke, said: “These schemes are an essential part of our work to make street safer for all road users, by encouraging more use of sustainable travel such as walking or cycling, reducing carbon and improving air quality in neighbourhoods in the process.
“The draft Local Transport Plan that we consulted on last year highlighted the importance of 20mph zones, not least because evidence shows that at 20mph there is a 1.5 per cent chance of being fatally injured, compared to an eight per cent chance at 30mph.
“In addition, a study published last year showed that CO2 emissions at a 30mph maximum speed were found to be 35 per cent higher than at 20mph.”
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