Somerset countryside 'defaced' with 30,000 road signs (From Burnham & Highbridge Weekly News)

Somerset countryside 'defaced' with 30,000 road signs

7:00am Sunday 28th June 2009

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SOMERSET’S beautiful countryside could be littered with over £10m of road signs following Government plans to introduce 50mph speed limits to single lane carriageways.

After deciding against a blanket national speed limit of 50mph instead of 60mph, the Government’s Road Safety Scheme is encouraging local authorities to introduce the speed limits locally.

But the Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE) says the plans – which would require repeater road signs every 300 yards – would mean an additional 34,684 signs for Somerset’s 3,660 miles of single lane carriageways at a cost of £10.4m.

“The Government wants to encourage local authorities to consider introducing the speed limits locally, but it has not thought through the national costs and implications,” said CPRE’s Senior Transport Campaigner Ralph Smyth.

“Its piecemeal plans could require a million repeater speed limit signs that would deface the countryside and distract drivers.

“We need to make rural roads safer and all the evidence points to reducing speed limits as the most important single step.

CPRE set out its vision for the countryside last month, focussing on a national blanket reduction to 50mph with discretion for local authorities to keep their safest roads at 60mph, and simplifying the introduction of 20mph limits to residential areas.

Mr Smyth added: “Lowering speed limits on main roads but keeping country lanes at 60mph will turn them into rat-runs and racetracks.

“Let’s spend transport budgets where the money is really needed, on filling potholes and improving conditions for walking, riding and cycling by lower speed zones, not on unnecessary repeater signs.”

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