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\n Speed limits of 20mph will be \u201cstandard on all local roads\u201d in Birmingham, the council has confirmed in a major vision for the city\u2019s future.\n <\/p>\n
Having declared a road safety emergency back in 2024, the city council said towards the end of that year that it was exploring the possibility of introducing more 20mph speed limits.<\/p>\n
Talk of a \u2018city-wide\u2019 20mph speed limit proved divisive both on social media and in the council chamber at the time, with some arguing motorists were being unfairly punished.<\/p>\n
But amid deep concern over the number of people being killed or seriously injured on city roads, the desire for lower speed limits has featured in a number of key city council strategies.<\/p>\n
And now the authority has reaffirmed its stance on 20mph limits in its Local Plan, a massive document which sets out how it can help shape the city\u2019s future in the coming years.<\/p>\n
The blueprint for the next two decades sets out how the council, now run by a coalition including the Lib Dems and Greens, can support economic development and attract investment.<\/p>\n
When it comes to sustainable transport, the council wrote in this huge strategy that \u2018active travel\u2019 will be prioritised in local neighbourhoods.<\/p>\n
\u201cWalking and cycling will become how most people get around their locality most of the time,\u201d the authority said. \u201cCars will no longer dominate street life around homes and schools.<\/p>\n
\u201cA limit of 20mph will be standard on all local roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cResidential neighbourhoods and local centres will be places where people are put first.\u201d<\/p>\n
According to the document, these \u2018local roads\u2019 would not include A class roads in Birmingham, which represent some of the \u201cmost important and busiest
metropolitan\u201d routes within the region.<\/p>\n
But roads outside of that category, such as residential streets, would be subject to the 20mph limit.<\/p>\n
The council said: \u201cFor all local roads (B and C class, and unclassified roads), 20mph speeds will continue to be implemented as part of a gradual rollout, through the delivery of the Birmingham Transport Plan.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is a significant body of evidence which proves that reducing vehicular speed limits to 20mph on local roads has a disproportionately positive impact on the incidence of fatal and serious injuries from road traffic collisions.\u201d<\/p>\n
The transport plan, adopted back in 2021, has ambitions of also introducing 20mph limits in \u2018local centres\u2019 in Birmingham, arguing that ending the dominance of cars in such areas would \u201cimprove air quality and reconnect communities\u201d.<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s former transport boss Cllr Majid Mahmood said last year that slower speed limits on appropriate roads would reduce collisions and save lives.<\/p>\n
\u201cApproximately one third of the city\u2019s roads are already subject to a 20mph speed limit,\u201d he said back in 2025.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe would like to expand the number of roads subject to this speed limit where appropriate and are currently exploring opportunities to carry this out.\u201d<\/p>\n
The council\u2019s new leadership, which took over earlier in the summer, has expressed support for slower speeds on residential roads in particular too.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou also need enforcement as well,\u201d Green councillor Julien Pritchard, deputy leader of the council, said earlier this year. \u201cWe\u2019re talking residential roads, roads that are clearly not designed for through-traffic at speed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe want safer streets where children can play and it\u2019s a nice environment to be in, rather than race tracks.\u201d<\/p>\n
Asked about those who claim there\u2019s a \u2018war on motorists\u2019, he responded: \u201cI think the war is on pedestrians and vulnerable road uses \u2013 if there\u2019s a war out there, it\u2019s on some of the most vulnerable people using our roads.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not about punishing [motorists], it\u2019s just about making streets safer for everybody.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Birmingham Lib Dems, which has a number of councillors in key leadership positions, said speed reduction would be a priority in their manifesto ahead of this year\u2019s local elections.<\/p>\n
They said: \u201cWe should move to residential roads being 20mph, where there is local support and enforcement capability, along with other local speed reductions tools, such as road-narrowing and signage.\u201d<\/p>\n
Plans to introduce more 20mph limits in Birmingham would have to go through consultation first.<\/p>\n
The council has taken other action too, recently completing a major project to cut limits from 40mph to 30mph on 27 roads in a bid to make streets \u201csafer and more welcoming\u201d.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Speed limits of 20mph will be \u201cstandard on all local roads\u201d in Birmingham, the council has confirmed in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1165641,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[7820],"tags":[22440,22441,855,9163,22439,748,9444,1354,393,9453,4884,14987,269,12,3669,9440,93,16823,16,15],"class_list":["post-1165640","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-birmingham","tag-102-5","tag-102-5-fm","tag-birmingham","tag-black-country","tag-brierley-hill","tag-britain","tag-dab","tag-dudley","tag-england","tag-fm","tag-great-britain","tag-halesowen","tag-music","tag-news","tag-online","tag-radio","tag-sport","tag-stourbridge","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/117147431891006440","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165640","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1165640"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1165640\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1165641"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1165640"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1165640"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1165640"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}