30mph Wolverhampton ring road plan 'another obstacle to people visiting'
Controversial plans to cut the speed limit on a ring road from 40mph to 30mph could be "another obstacle" to people visiting a city, a councillor has warned.
Wolverhampton Council wants to keep the 30mph limit on the city's ring road, which was brought in during the pandemic on a trial basis following government advice to promote social distancing measures.
A consultation has been launched on the plan, which council chiefs say will cut accidents and be good for the environment by reducing harmful emissions.
The change initially sparked criticism that the council wanted to "ban cars and motorists", and Conservative councillor Jonathan Yardley has warned that it may add further pressure on the "struggling" city centre.
"Wolverhampton city centre needs all the help it can get and this could be another obstacle that stops people coming here to shop," he said.
"Drivers are already put off as it is by parking issues and all the bus lanes, which can lead to fines if they accidentally go into the wrong lane."
Councillor Steve Evans, Wolverhampton Council’s cabinet member for environment and climate change, said: "We’ve had a trial in place since June 2020 with the reduced speed limit and what we’ve seen is fewer personal injury accidents which is extremely encouraging in terms of keeping people safer.
"When we first made this change, I saw comments from people saying we wanted to ban cars and motorists.
"We know how important cars and other vehicles are for people to get around in, we don’t want to make life harder for motorists – what we want to do is cater for all road users – motorists, cyclists, walkers, those on public transport – in a safe environment."
The ring road has been the scene of a number of accidents in recent years, including in April when the road was blocked after a smash between a car and a motorcycle.
Visit wolverhampton.gov.uk/troperm for more details on the consultation. It closes on November 11.
