Hundreds of people in Bath have signed a Lib Dem petition calling for 20mph speed limits on the most residential streets in the city. 

Doctors in the British Medical Association backed the 20mph limits earlier this year and residents city-wide are worried about the speed of traffic on the most residential roads.

Bath MP Don Foster, who is backing the campaign, said,

“We have received a very encouraging response to the campaign.  We are receiving positive feedback from across the city.  People want action to deal with this problem.  This campaign is about making our local communities safer places to live.  Parents in some areas are scared to let their children out of their front door.  That isn’t how life should be.”

Our Lib Dem Group Leader, Cllr Paul Crossley, visited Portsmouth last year, where over 90% of their roads now have a 20mph limit. He was very impressed with the scheme they have rolled out in Portsmouth and noted that it was clearly now very much the norm for people there to drive at 20mph, not 30.

The scheme has been very popular with residents, and has also made cycling in the city much safer.  One way roads in Portsmouth now also have contra-flow cycling, which makes it a preferable mode of transport for shorter journeys.  Setting up speed traps to catch speeders is all well and good, but what we need is real action to change the attitude to speed on these roads.  The current Tory Council just don’t seem to understand that.

We will continue to approach more residents in the Spring.  It is clear that the people of Bath think that ‘Twenty is Plenty’.

You can sign the Liberal Democrat petition on-line at http://ourcampaign.org.uk/twentyisplenty