Mixed reaction to 20mph speed limit plan

The speed limit on a busy Nottingham road could be dropped as part of a road safety plan.

Nottingham City Council says it is set to receive funding from the Department for Transport "allocated to deliver safety interventions", which could include dropping the speed limit on Mansfield Road in Sherwood from 30mph (48km/h) to 20mph (32km/h).

The funding is due to be formally agreed at the authority's executive board meeting on 18 March, and a consultation with residents will then be launched to work out how to spend it.

With a number of crashes involving speeding drivers, businesses in the area say action is necessary.

Douglas Eccles, from Rustic Vapez, is sceptical about the proposed changes, saying he has seen drivers "showing off" and going at double the speed limit.

"Would it make a difference? I don't think so, because it's a 30mph [limit] now and we sit here in the shop and watch the speed some of them come past here at," he said.

"They're lucky no-one's been killed out there, that's how fast some of them go - it's ridiculous."

Mr Eccles said a car coming through his shop window "shut me for six months", and he wants to see more cameras to deter speeding motorists.

"It was horrible, it affected the business a hell of a lot," he said.

"They're wasting a lot of money - all they need to do is put cameras up."

Asif Kassam, who works at Sherwood Stationers, also does not think changing the limit will have an impact.

"I don't think it's going to make a world of difference, because from what I've seen, the collisions they're trying to avoid, most of these have been people who are not adhering to the speed limit in the first place," the 38-year-old said.

"These aren't people who are driving at 30 - like the incident where the car went into the shop over the road, and the other one where they went into a lamp-post on this side of the road, those people weren't driving at 30, so by changing it to 20 they're not going to start driving at 20.

"The guy who hit the lamppost on this side was weaving in and out of traffic, trying to undertake and overtake at a busy time of day, and he was doing 45-50.

"Changing the speed limit is only going to affect ordinary people who stick to the speed limit."

Emma Quinn, owner of the Pudding Pantry, is more hopeful a revised speed limit could give motorists a further warning.

"It would make it safer for sure," she said.

"There's lots of children that walk up and down the street, there's a school just round the corner, we get lots and lots of children in here every single day.

"With the park just over the road, it would definitely make it safer.

"I do sometimes walk my children down from Mapperley and have to cross the roads here, and it is dangerous with how fast some people drive."

A city council spokesman said: "As yet, no plans are finalised, [and] the measures mentioned to improve safety in the report are potential options.

"Once funding has been accepted and project work commenced then our team will progress design work and ask the public what they think of the plans, before starting work in 2027."

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