A law to change most 30mph speed limits to 20mph in Wales is to come into force in April 2023.
The Welsh Government wants it to be law that the national default speed limit on residential roads and busy pedestrian streets is cut to 20mph.
The plans will apply to all roads where street lights are not more than 200 yards apart – usually seen in residential and built-up areas – where the default speed limit is 30mph. There will be some exceptions, based on criteria linked to the number of houses, schools, community centres and shops alongside the road. Councils can look at that criteria and decide whether to keep the 30mph speed limit on specific roads.
Traffic down by half and footfall up on Church St following LTN – news.hackney.gov.uk
Hackney Council
Traffic is down by a half on Stoke Newington Church Street, and footfall is up by 2% following the introduction of its low traffic neighbourhood (LTN) in September 2021.
The low traffic neighbourhood consists of a 7am-7pm bus gate on Church Street, which only buses, cyclists, waste and emergency vehicles are permitted to pass through during operational times, and five 24-hour filters in the surrounding area.
This was aimed at supporting people to walk, shop and cycle locally and tackling poor air quality in the area.
As the LTN comes to the end of its trial period, the Council is urging people to have their say by 31 March, when it will analyse comments from residents alongside traffic, air quality and footfall monitoring data before making a decision on whether or not to make the low traffic neighbourhood permanent.
Monitoring of other roads shows that there has also been traffic reduction in other roads in the area. Lordship Road is the biggest beneficiary of the low traffic neighbourhood: with 17,000 fewer vehicles now using the road each week – a 77% reduction.
Teenage bike-jacker jailed for two years three months – road.cc
Blake Houghton was part of gang targeting cyclists and motorbikers
A 19 year old who robber was part of a gang that stole a motorbike and bicycle in Sheffield after mugging their owners has been jailed for two years and three months.
Blake Houghton admitted two counts of burglary, two of robbery and one of dangerous driving when he appeared at Sheffield Crown Court yesterday, reports the Sheffield Star(link is external).
The court heard that the teenager was one of four occupants of a car, all wearing masks, who forced a motorcyclist to stop on the city’s Shirecliffe Road, with one of his accomplices making off with the motorbike.
Prosecuting counsel Matthew Burdon told the court that the victim had been squeezed by the driver of a Seat car who, like his three passengers, was wearing a mask, with the motorcyclist threatened with violence to force him to give them his motorbike.
I could only watch in horror as communities where some of the lived were destroyed or blighted forever by the M8 – Glasgow Live
When I was a small boy I lived in Edinburgh in the 1960s, with family & friends in Glasgow, and could only watch in horror as communities where some of the lived were destroyed or blighted forever by the M8: https://glasgowlive.co.uk/news/history/what-m8-did-charingcross-anderston-15847121 Replace the M8!
Greenfield housing is still being built around the car – transportxtra.com
14 February 2022
Transport for New Homes says parking takes up a lot of space and impacts severely on public realm and good urban design
Greenfield housing estates are adding hundreds of thousands of new car journeys to roads, increasing congestion, increasing carbon emissions and air pollution, a new study suggests.
The Building Car Dependency report, released by Transport for New Homes, states that a typical greenfield development is designed in every way around the car – with as many as two to three car parking spaces per home.
‘You can’t just lop bits off the bike’: UK firm debuts bicycle for people with dwarfism | Cycling | The Guardian
Islabikes to mass-produce model specifically for adults with achondroplasia, after working with campaign group
Peter Walker
Steve Scott from the Dwarf Sports Association worked with the company to develop the bikes.
For much of the 15-plus years Islabikes has existed, the UK company’s managing director Tim Goodall recalls, adults with dwarfism would regularly get in touch, asking to come in to try out one of the bikes they make for children.
The company, he said, was happy to oblige, if aware of the implications: “It was the best option out there, but it was still pretty awful. It did feel like it was a problem that could be solved through better design.”
And that, in the end, is what has happened. The Ludlow-based business has become the first bike manufacturer in the world to mass-produce models specifically designed for the requirements of people with disproportionate dwarfism.
Pollutionwatch: toxic air shortens lives by 20 months | Air pollution | The Guardian
Gary Fuller
Children will have their lives shortened by an average of a year and eight months from breathing polluted air, according to two new reports from the State of Global Air initiative. In some of the worst-affected countries, babies born today will, on average, lose more than three years of life unless air pollution improves.
Air pollution was the fourth leading cause of death around the globe in 2019, at about 7 million early deaths. This is more than those from more well-known risks including smoking, malaria and poor hygiene. The worst-affected countries face the double challenge of poor outdoor air pollution and breathing smoke from household cooking and heating.
The Fourth Power Rule – Cyclelicious – cyclelicio.us
Richard Masoner 25 February, 2014
Discussion about fees and taxes for bicycles so that we cyclists “pay our fair share” often turn to mentions of the “Fourth Power Rule.” What is this mysterious Fourth Power Rule?
Back in the 1950s and 1960s, highway engineers researched damage done to road beds and road surfaces for the purposes of allocating who should pay how much into the various road maintenance funds. The American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO; they added Transportation to their organization name during the 1973 OPEC oil embargo)
Zero Emission Zone suggested for Norwich – transportxtra.com
The Norwich Zero Emission Zone would initially cover a limited number of streets, but with a wider area being covered in the future
A Zero Emission Zone (ZEZ) could restrict all but the most eco-friendly vehicles entering Norwich.
Norfolk County Council hopes the ZEZ could reduce pollution in the city centre and encourage more people to switch to more sustainable forms of transport.
The scheme would initially cover only a limited number of streets, but with a wider area being covered in the future, according to a report in the Eastern Daily Press.
Redetermination: Transport Secretary would like to hear from you! – change.org
Petition update 9 Mar 2022 —
The Secretary of State for Transport wants to make a new decision on the Stonehenge road scheme. He first asked National Highways for responses to five matters he wishes to consider i.e. Alternatives, Policy, Carbon, Environmental Information and Any Other Matters.
National Highways has responded. (See “Documents” tab in this link) and the Secretary of State for Transport has now invited comments on those submissions and any other relevant information.
The submissions by National Highways are technical and lengthy. The Stonehenge Alliance and its expert advisers are preparing a full technical response which we will share in due course.
However, it is important that the Secretary of State for Transport hears from the wider public on these issues. We’re therefore asking as many people to respond as possible, to raise some or all of the points below.