Campaigners in Westerleigh make progress in bid to cut speed limit (From Gazette Series)

Campaigners in Westerleigh make progress in bid to cut speed limit

8:30am Monday 22nd March 2010 in

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CAMPAIGNERS who have long been calling for the speed limit to be slashed around Westerleigh are finally making inroads.

Residents living along the B4465 Wapley Road between Westerleigh and Dodington Ash have been protesting at the 60mph limit for many years but it has taken until now for a speed reduction scheme to win financial backing.

Following a petition signed by hundreds of residents in 2008, South Gloucestershire Council has now announced the road has been included in the authority’s budget.

Westerleigh councillor Claire Young, who led the campaign for a speed reduction, said: "It has been a long haul. We are hoping that the speed limit around the Henfield crossroads and the Wayleaze cottages will be lowered to 40mph and the road will become a 50mpn limit."

She said there had been numerous non-serious accidents on the road but many had not been reported to police.

"There have been a number of cars that have ended up in ditches which have not necessarily been reported and therefore don’t go on accident records," she said. "The problem is drivers come off the M4 and go down this road still in motorway mentality.

"It is such a twisty road and it doesn’t really make sense that it has a 60mph limit, especially when you look at other roads in the district which have a lower speed limit."

Cllr Brian Allinson, the council’s executive member for transport, said: "Residents living along the B4465 in the Henfield, Codrington and Wapley have had concerns for a number of years about road safety and that’s why I prioritised a scheme in this year’s transport capital programme to review the issues and see what could be done.

"That review is close to completion, but will lead to action with safety measures being implemented as part of the 2010/11 programme, which will begin in the coming weeks."

A public consultation on recommendations for a change in the speed limit will be held before any reduction is implemented.