Decision

For the reasons set out in
the report and its appendices Cabinet RESOLVED to Agree:
 
i) 
To introduce a 20mph speed limit across the London
Borough of Newham, except for private roads, Transport for
London’s roads and roads listed in Appendix 3
below.
 
ii) 
To delegate to the Corporate Director of Environment and
Sustainable Transport to implement appropriate
traffic calming measures, where required.
 
iii) 
To delegate to the Corporate Director of Environment and
Sustainable Transport to:
 
· 
Advertise all Statutory Notices and Traffic
Management Orders under section 84 of the Road Traffic Regulation
Act 1984; and
· 
Make the orders after due consideration of any
representations.
 
Alternatives
Considered
 

a) 
Do-Nothing – This option would not address concerns about
road danger and high energy costs across the borough and is
inconsistent with the borough’s corporate objectives of
delivering improved road safety as outlined above.

 

b) 
Selective introduction - officers considered an option whereby the
main “A” and “B” classified roads, to
remain 30mph. This option was not progressed, on the following
grounds:
 
c) 
The data in charts 1 to 4 above show that most of the collisions
and serious/fatal injuries from 2017 to 2022 occurred on roads with
a 30mph speed limit. Applying the lower speed limit to those roads
was essential to achieve one of the main goals of the proposal,
otherwise the whole project would have been undermined.  Whilst officers acknowledge that some local
authorities in Greater London such as Wandsworth Council and across
the country have introduced similar schemes without lowering the
speed limit on their main roads, they also know that some of them
have already, or are planning to, extend their 20mph schemes to
include their A and B classified roads as well as main distributor
roads. Transport for London are also doing the same on their TLRN
network.
 
d) 
To achieve the goals of reducing traffic accidents and improving
air quality, the Mayor of London and other boroughs support a
progressive trend of lowering the speed limits across the area.
In light of the
benefits/outcomes stated above it is recommended to take a
comprehensive approach to implement a ‘blanket 20 mph
scheme’ from the start to deliver a step change in road
danger reduction and achieve long term savings in energy costs.
 
e) 
The option stated in paragraph 6.2 for LB Newham is not feasible
and practical because it would require additional energy costs and
more effort to implement. The existing residential 20mph zones in
LB Newham are mostly surrounded by classified A and B roads or TLRN
(TfL) roads, that have a 30mph speed limit. The speed limit changes
at these roads, (from 30mph to 20mph, and vice versa) are indicated
by lit traffic signs. If the 20mph limit was applied to the whole
borough, but the main surrounding roads kept the 30mph limit, there
would be more than 400 junctions that would need lit signs. About
250 of these junctions would be new and would need extra signs
and/or power connections.
 

f) 
The council pays about £19.29 per year for each LED
illuminated post, based on last year's estimate before the energy
prices soared. This means the annual cost for additional signs at
all 400 junctions is around £15.5K. The illumination units
usually last for 20 years, unless they are damaged. Therefore, the
total cost over their lifespan is estimated at £310k.
 

g) 
Besides the additional energy costs outlined above, it is estimated
that the implementation costs for the additional signage is
£750k, which is 50% of the estimated cost of the scheme. On
the contrary, a blanket 20 mph speed limit across Newham will
reduce the need for many signs and save maintenance costs over
time. Options in paragraphs 6.1 and 6.2 were
therefore not considered for the reasons stated above.