GLASGOW will transform into a 20mph city under £4.5 million council plans.
Under proposed plans, all residential streets in Glasgow will be enforced with a 20mph speed limit, due to come into place between 2024 to 2025.
It could be even sooner as discussions are under way with Transport Scotland about Glasgow becoming a pilot for the national delivery of 20mph areas.
SNP councillor Angus Millar said: “I can confirm the council has secured funding to support our planned roll out of the default 20mph residential speed limits. The estimated cost of the city-wide roll-out is £4.5m.”
The council has landed £2.6m from charity Sustrans for the project and the local authority is pouring additional cash into the scheme to cover costs.
A consultant is being hired to look at all roads in the city to decide what streets will become 20mph and to look at legal technical work.
READ MORE: Scotland set for 'world-first' after Arbikie plans green distillery in Angus
Councillor Millar said he “is keen” to see the timescale for roll-out accelerated with officers investigating how it could be done quicker.
He said: “Glasgow’s ambition to become a default 20mph city has also been taken up at a national level.”
He said local authority staff are “currently in discussions with Transport Scotland for the potential for Glasgow to be a pilot for that wider national roll out with a view to seeing if the programme can be rolled out within 18 months”.
Details of the scheme came to light following a question from Green councillor John Molyneux at yesterday’s full council meeting about funding availability for the slower speed limits and timescales.
Green Councillor Jon Molyneux said: “Earlier this year, with a Green amendment, we were able to secure funding in the city budget to begin the work of cutting speeds on our roads as soon as possible."
He said the funding is a “welcome step” and he is looking “forward to seeing these changes come into force as soon as possible".
Molyneux added: “For too long we have designed our city to work for cars and not for the people who live here. It’s well past time that we start to shift that balance so our streets can be safe for people again."
He added: “This will make a huge difference not just for our greenhouse gas emissions but also to save lives from preventable conditions like asthma which are worsened by car pollution.”
Why are you making commenting on The National only available to subscribers?
We know there are thousands of National readers who want to debate, argue and go back and forth in the comments section of our stories. We’ve got the most informed readers in Scotland, asking each other the big questions about the future of our country.
Unfortunately, though, these important debates are being spoiled by a vocal minority of trolls who aren’t really interested in the issues, try to derail the conversations, register under fake names, and post vile abuse.
So that’s why we’ve decided to make the ability to comment only available to our paying subscribers. That way, all the trolls who post abuse on our website will have to pay if they want to join the debate – and risk a permanent ban from the account that they subscribe with.
The conversation will go back to what it should be about – people who care passionately about the issues, but disagree constructively on what we should do about them. Let’s get that debate started!
Callum Baird, Editor of The National
Comments: Our rules
We want our comments to be a lively and valuable part of our community - a place where readers can debate and engage with the most important local issues. The ability to comment on our stories is a privilege, not a right, however, and that privilege may be withdrawn if it is abused or misused.
Please report any comments that break our rules.
Read the rules hereLast Updated:
Report this comment Cancel