854 speed every day in Lochmaben

Between June 15 and 22 this year a Dumfries and Galloway Council study found that an average of 7838 cars, lorries, vans, tractors and motorcycles pass through the Royal Burgh daily.
Of those, 854 (10.9 per cent) exceed the speed limit of 30mph, while over a hundred (1.3 per cent) are travelling at over 35 mph.
The highest recorded speeds were between 40 and 45 mph and the average was 25 mph.
The figures were shared at Lochmaben Community Council on Tuesday night by vice chairman Tony Hancock.
Mr Hancock and his community council colleagues want to see the speed limit reduced to 20mph on the town centre stretch of the A709.
Expressing his concerns, he said: “I find it quite staggering that Dumfries and Galloway Council say there’s no case for a 20mph speed limit.
“They only take notice of the speeding if somebody dies.”
And gesturing to a printed sheet of figures, he said: “To me that’s a slam dunk case for 20mph.”
Responding, councillor Stephen Thompson said: “The reality is that we have a 30mph limit and we have 800 vehicles a day going above that, if it was 20mph they would still speed.”
And Mr Hancock said: “But they would still be going slower.
“It’s 800 vehicles a day going through the High Street too fast.”
With Mr Thompson adding: “It’s 800 too many.”
As well as seeing the speed limit reduced, the community council would like to see the 30mph zone extended by 100 metres at each entry to the town.
High Street resident John Morrison also raised concerns about the traffic double parking on the road, particularly HGVs.
He said: “I’m worried about young mums trying to cross the road with their children.
“And I can’t get out with my car, one day a woman parked across my access and when I told her I needed to get out she jumped out her car and said she’d just be five minutes.
“A lorry driver once told me he’d move to let me out after he’d finished his breakfast.”
Mr Morrison also commented that the heavy traffic is having an effect on his house, and said: “I can feel the house shaking, and every morning I have to straighten the pictures on the wall.”