ROADS outside schools will be prioritised for 20mph zones across Trafford - and residents can request zones in their area.

Trafford Council announced last night it is going to push for low speed zones across the borough and will prioritise roads outside schools, parks and residential homes first.

Residents will be able to request that roads in their area are limited to 20mph, but must meet a set of criteria to be eligible.

The new criteria were set out in a report brought to Trafford Council’s executive meeting last night.

Roads are more likely to be prioritised for a new 20mph limit if any of the following apply initially:

  • There are high levels of on street parking.
  • A school is on the road.
  • There is a history of fatal/serious/slight collisions on the road.
  • There are community centres, places of worship, bus/tram stops, local shops, nurseries, nursing homes on the road.
  • There is good community support for a 20mph zone on the road.

Cost and viability estimates will then be assessed before the council decides whether or not to implement a 20mph zone for a specific area.

New funding has been made available to the council by Transport for Greater Manchester specifically to support road safety outside schools.

On May 21, TfGM announced it would offer boroughs up to £50,000 through its Active Travel Fund to manage road safety on streets that have schools along them.

It is estimated that £50,000 would enable traffic calming measures along five roads with schools on them across Trafford.

There is currently no money set aside in Trafford Council’s budget this year to fund new 20mph zones, but funding allocation ‘will be considered’ for the next financial year beginning April 2022, following a review of applications from residents.

Trafford currently has 26 existing 20mph zones, which were all implemented in the 1990s and funded by central government contributions.

There are several active requests for the implementation of new 20mph zones across the borough currently being considered by the council – including in areas of Altrincham.

These and any new requests will be assessed and a bid for funding will be made as part of the authority’s budget next year.

Conservative members voiced their disappointment at the scope of the plans during the executive meeting last night, saying original proposals put forward by Green Party members last year were ‘much more ambitious’.

Cllr Michael Welton, Green Party councillor for Altrincham, had originally proposed a motion calling for 20mph zones across the borough’s residential areas in September 2020.

He said: “There is a bit of progress offered, but I find it hard to understand how anyone can make decisions on the basis of this report and the glaring omissions there are in it.

“I have very many questions about this very conservative report.

"Why isn’t there an overarching policy ambition to move to wide area 20mph limits across Trafford?

"We’re seeing it in so many other places, so many cities.”

Cllr Stephen Adshead, executive member for the environment, said: “We’ve been tasked with looking at how we can introduce more 20mph zones in more of our residential streets and that’s exactly what we have done and I’m quite pleased with that.

“This is building on previous work, the 26 zones that are there already and we want to see that extended.

"That was done through special funding, those same pots aren’t there to do that sort of work now.”

Cllr Adshead explained simple schemes with some signage can cost up to £10,000 and interventions like speed bumps can substantially increase that cost.

He added: “We have to bear in mind what we’re able to do within the limits of budgets.

"We want the priority to be around schools, parks, elderly person’s homes.

"There is a clear need in those areas.”