Review revealed areas covered by the £140,000 scheme had a third of the number of accidents compared with others in the town
New 20mph zones across Middlesbrough have reduced road casualties and traffic speeds.
A review revealed areas covered by the £140,000 scheme had a third of the number of accidents compared with others in the town.
Alan Crawford, scrutiny support officer, said in a report to Middlesbrough Council overview and scrutiny board: “Although road casualty rates have been continuously reduced across the whole of Teesside for the last 10 years, there are still over 300 casualties per year in Middlesbrough.
“Evidence to date indicates that the introduction of a 20mph speed limit across residential areas of Middlesbrough has been of benefit and will contribute to reducing the figure further.”
View gallery Middlesbrough 20mph zones
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He said the severity of injuries as a result of road accidents could also be reduced when traffic travels more slowly.
The zones were installed over two phases, The first included 678 streets between March and June 2012 with a further 687 added between March and June last year.
The scheme, funded by the Department of Transport, involved 20mph signs, road markings and speed limit repeater signs but no additional calming measures.
Speaking as the second phase was introduced Nicky Walker, Executive councillor for environment, said: “Having 20mph speed limits on almost all residential roads will help make all road users safer.”
A review has now looked at crashes on the roads in the 14 months before phase one of the scheme and the 14 months afterwards.
It revealed from July 2012 to August 2013 there were 28 accidents in 20mph speed limits and 285 across the rest of the town. This was equal to two per 10km of road in the 20mph areas compared with six per 10km of road elsewhere.
Mr Crawford said: “The figures confirm that phase one’s roads are amongst the safest in the town.”
Members of the committee agreed for long-term monitoring of the effectiveness of the zones to be carried out. They said if there were persistent problems of speeding in the 20mph areas, other traffic calming measures could be considered.
Cleveland’s Police and Crime Commissioner Barry Coppinger was to asked to clarify the police role in enforcing the speed limits.
A Cleveland Police spokeswoman said: “20mph zones should be engineered for compliance by road users and where compliance is not being achieved alternative road designs should be looked at.
“Speed enforcement should be the last resort in order to educate drivers about the speeding issues.
“We are aware of the request for information from the Transport Scrutiny Committee and will be providing a more detailed response for the next meeting.”
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