5.6 20mph streets

All urban areas, residential streets, town or village centres and places with significant interaction between pedestrians, cyclists, and motor vehicles (such as schools and markets) must have a limit of 20mph and be designed accordingly. This will apply to busy high streets as well as quieter secondary, local, and tertiary streets.

Only primary streets can be 30mph.

The street hierarchy table in section 4.14 provides further details for each street type.

All speed limits must largely be self-enforcing through good design using the techniques described in Section 5.5.

Existing streets may require retrofitting to achieve lower speeds.

The transition between 30mph streets and 20mph streets should be carefully designed. This can be achieved by using continuous crossings on side roads, and gateway features such as raised tables with narrowing, where the change in speed is mid link.

Department for Transport local government guidance, Circular 01/2013, encourages 20mph limits and zones to reduce speeds, improve safety and encourage a modal shift to walking and cycling. Recent research from The University of Surrey recommends that speed limits of 20mph should be used to encourage cycling [Reference 13]. Surrey County Council’s policy document, Setting Local Speeds Limits, provides further information on speed management for 20mph zones.

References

• Reference 13: Nick Grudgings, Susan Hughes and Alex Hagen-Zanker (2021) What aspects of traffic intensity most influence cycling mode choice? A study of commuting in Surrey, UK (Return to content for reference 13).