SMALL towns and villages which are also part of major timber transport routes must be considered for 20mph speed limits, a councillor demanded this week.
Pauline Drysdale, who represents Castle Douglas and Crocketford, has called for these speed zones to be extended beyond primary school locations, and the 17 larger towns already identified in Dumfries and Galloway.
She revealed that she has been inundated with complaints from residents living in small communities on timber transport routes.
As the progress of the 20mph scheme was discussed at the council’s economy and infrastructure committee on Tuesday, Councillor Drysdale said: “At the communities committee in 2021 it was agreed to roll out the 20mph scheme in communities on primary school routes, followed by those with higher population densities – which seems to make sense at the time.
“However, I’m sure some members would agree with me that we’ve been receiving high volumes of communication regarding a handful of communities across the region who are on the A routes.”
She then requested that the council considers including the A class timber transport routes, which also experience high volumes of 44-tonne-plus HGVs and haulage vehicles, to form part of 20mph zone discussions in future.
Tony Topping, the council’s team leader for network strategy and road safety, said: “I do get the frustration by some of these small communities that feel they do get high volumes of HGVs, timber transport etc.
“And they almost feel that they’re maybe down on the list, and are not prioritised the same as larger communities.
He said that funding is expected from Transport Scotland to further progress 20mph zones, and added: “I’ll be looking to do the temporary traffic data surveys to gather the speeds, vehicle data, and in May on that list of 13 settlements on timber transport routes.
“Within a couple of months, I’m hoping to have a priority list and we can start looking at measures to implement there.”
