Some Wrexham roads to raise speed limits to 30mph

More than 50 stretches of road in Wrexham are set to have their speed limits raised back to 30mph from 20mph.

A review of the default lower speed limit of 20mph was announced by the Welsh government following significant public backlash.

Wrexham council's executive board considered the results of a consultation which was "overwhelmingly" in favour of ending the 20mph policy, with 93% of respondents in favour of returning road speeds to 30mph.

Local authority staff will begin planning the next steps, including a campaign to ensure all residents know about the changes, and begin phasing the new limits in safely.

The default speed limit was switched on mostly urban roads on 17 September 2023, and with some exemptions, most 30mph roads became 20mph.

Introduced while Mark Drakeford was first minister, the scheme proved to be one of the Welsh government's most controversial initiatives since devolution began, and almost half a million people signed a petition calling for it to be scrapped.

The public backlash prompted a review of the policy, and councils are currently considering whether more roads can be switched back to 30mph.

Following the conclusion of the Wrexham consultation last week, the campaign group "20's Plenty For Us" wrote on X: "Is that really a difficult decision? Saving children from death and injury or appeasing a few motorists.

"There are serious matters of life and death to be considered."

It comes as figures from the GoSafe partnership show 8,881 motorists were caught exceeding the 20mph enforcement threshold in the first month of 2025 with one north Wales motorist caught driving at 89mph in a 20mph zone.

The highest offence speed recorded in south and mid Wales last month was 73mph.

Wrexham council applied for additional Welsh government funding for the changes to be made and it received £368,000.

The report put before councillors acknowledged there were risks of injury and fatality due to increasing speed limits.

But assessments of the 52 selected routes were undertaken in accordance with Welsh government guidance.

Councillors were told "safety has been paramount".

Guidance says a 30mph speed limit could be set if the road is "located outside city, town or village centres" and "away from places that attract frequent pedestrian and/or cyclist traffic".

It also specifies that the limit can be raised "on roads with low housing density and where, if there are pedestrians and cyclists, they are or could be segregated from motor traffic".

Other local authorities are still collecting public feedback or deciding which routes should be reviewed.