50 signatures reached
To: David Mundell, Mairi McAlllan, South Lanarkshire Council, local MSPs, MPs
Elsrickle 20mph limit - safety for everyone
We, the undersigned, are requesting that the speed limit on the A721 as it passes through
Elsrickle village (ML12 6QZ) be permanently reduced to 20 mph for all traffic. The short area of restrictions outside the school is not sufficient for pedestrian and road user safety because:
• There are around 10 children who regularly walk to school/nursery. There are also
disabled and mobility impaired elderly people within the village. Pedestrians use the
footway outside of school hours as there are many dog walkers and also children
going to use the school playground facilities outside of school hours.
• The footway is narrow, in some places only 0.75 m wide. This is far below the
recommended minimum width of 1.5-2 m and is certainly not accessible for buggies
and wheelchairs. It also means an adult cannot safely walk holding a child’s hand or a
dog on a lead. The Scottish Government’s Designing Street policy (2010)
recommends a minimum width of 1.5-2 m, and states that “additional width should
be considered between the footway and a heavily used carriageway”.
• As a trunk road it is a very busy road, heavily used by HGVs, LGVs, coaches, vans and
agricultural vehicles.
• The road itself is narrow, at one of the narrowest areas it is 6.10 m wide. In
combination with the footway being just 0.75 m at this point and the average HGV
being 2.6 m wide (NOT including wing mirrors) when two of these pass in opposite
directions travelling at 30 mph+ it is quite frankly terrifying as they take up the entire
road with their mirrors encroaching the pedestrian space.
• The sight lines in the village are poor with several blind bends, and as the footpath is
only continuous on one side there is no choice for many pedestrians to cross the
road near blind bends.
• In a previous road survey conducted by the council prior to the new Blackmount
Primary school being built, the average speed of traffic was recorded as 39 mph. This
is far too fast for a residential area.
• As an ancient village, we appreciate it is not possible to change the road or footway
dimensions. It is possible however, to change the speed limit to 20 mph throughout
the village to make it safer for all pedestrians and road users.
Why is this important?
Please, join us in trying to get a permanent 20 mph limit throughout Elsrickle to keep our kids, friends, family and pets safe.
The speed that traffic currently goes through the village is unacceptable for a growing community of young families and the walking routes to our new school are unfit for purpose.
Even if you do not live in Elsrickle, a reduced speed limit would allow safer school and nursery walks out.
How it will be delivered
We need to put pressure on our local representatives to let them know that the speed limit needs to change before a bad accident.
