20mph on back burner

A PROPOSED 20 MPH speed limit zone in Thame, is being held up due to lack of staff to carry the project on.
Oxfordshire County Council?s Principle Engineer, Geoff Barrell, told ThameNews.Net today that he was fighting for more staff to design the scheme which was chosen as a Pilot, and for which money has been ear-marked.
The next stage, he said, was for his department to take some speed measurements in the proposed speed limit area, to see that traffic is travelling at under 24 mph. If it is not, added Mr Barrell, they could suggest some measures to try to reduce the speed of vehicles, like pink tarmac for instance.
“We would not be able to impose a speed limit if the majority of Thame people did not want it,” said Mr Barrell.
“However, the views of the Town Council would probably reflect most people?s attitudes so we would probably be guided by them. A second consultation exercise would have to be carried out, including a big publicity blitz and probably the posting of notices on site, to make sure we get the views of everybody. I would not expect anything else to happen now until at lease April of next year.”