20's Plenty?

Are calls for a 20 mph zone along Ffordd yr Wyddgrug/Mold Road misplaced?

How long has it been since people requested a 20 mph speed limit on Ffordd yr Wyddgrug/Mold Road. 20 years? 25? 30? It certainly goes back a while. It's not a campaign as such. It's half-hearted. It's more a loose number of disparate voices who from time to time see this as a Good Thing. For the children. But is it desirable or even necessary?

Of greater concern must be the slippery leaves at the pedestrian stepped entrance to Ysgol Brynhyfryd

At school times, when there are plentiful pupils about, traffic along Mold Road self-manages. Add teachers' cars, parents' cars, school buses to general commuter traffic going east and travelling at 20 mph would actually seem rather aspirational. At the height of the school run, it's just not achievable. Let's be honest, traffic crawls and if it doesn't, the nice new lollipop lady, Karina, is there to slow things down. At this time of day, there's nothing that a 20 mph limit could do to improve matters.

Things were academic, though. The thought of a 20 limit on any trunk road was anathema to the government. That stance could be changing.

Are there more important areas that should be 20ied?

But 20 mph limits could be useful elsewhere. Traffic tends to move far too fast along our estate roads. Some of them are long and act as distributors for their localities. Erw Goch is the best example. At one point, this was a candidate for speed humps. Others such as Maes Hafod, Maes Menlli, Bro Deg and Stryd y Brython are all culs-de-sac but they're long and motorists drive therealong too fast. The early two-thirds of Stryd y Brython seem very "open" and this unconsciously increases speed.

Along these particular roads, there's probably no road safety justification for reducing speeds from 30 to 20 mph because there probably is unlikely to be a history of accidents. Traffic can't be measured by "volume" because there isn't any—cars pass occasionally.

But restricting the speed along residential distributor roads such as the above mentioned would make life so much more pleasant for those who live on them and for those who walk them. After all, these are residential areas, not trunk or strategic roads. It's about a different pace. It's about a quieter neighbourhood. It's about a residential area rather than a traffic-blighted route. As most are eventually dead ends, it means people are using them at the beginning or end of their journey; they aren't part of their core commute. Here, 20 really should be plenty, where people live. So, it's about safety, of course it is, even if that argument's weaker' it's more about attractiveness, civilised residential areas and quality of life.