Crackdown on speedsters could see speed limits cut

SPEED limits could be reduced to 20mph in and around Wargrave as part of a crackdown on speeding drivers.

Wokingham Borough Council has conducted a review of speed limits on roads.

Residents in Wargrave have campaigned to halve the limits in rural roads without footpaths to 30mph.

The council’s review includes the introduction of “quiet ways”, which are described as roads with low traffic that could be eligible for speed limit reductions to 30mph and 20mph.

A4 Action Group road safety campaigner Simon Chapman, of Scarletts Lane, said the new policy would “transform” the lives of many people.

More than 80 villagers signed a petition by Mr Chapman last year which asked for speed limits to be halved in roads including Blakes Lane, Castle End Road, Dark Lane, Scarletts Lane and Mumbery Hill. He said: “We made headline news with our petition last year demanding the halving of the speed limit in those dangerous lanes which brought an undertaking from the council to review them.

“It’s a wide-ranging policy and it will affect people in the town and in the country and will hopefully make many roads safer.

“In terms of reducing the speed limit on narrow rural lanes which qualify, I am delighted. I thought it might not happen in my lifetime.

“Each of those roads will have to satisfy the council that they meet the criteria for what they call ‘quiet way’ designation. If they satisfy all of those criteria, I am very confident that they will all be granted 30mph speed limits.

“It will be a great relief to everyone and parents of school children, who will perhaps be the most affected.”

Councillor Wayne Smith, of Wargrave Parish Council, praised the review following a 20-year-long road safety campaign.

He said: “For years, vulnerable road users have been frightened to walk out of their front gate. People have no choice but to walk on the carriageway and they often have nowhere to escape to when cars and lorries suddenly bear down on them from both directions at inappropriate speeds.

“Minor accidents occur almost daily but that will change when drivers no longer feel legally able to put their foot down.”

Single carriageway rural lanes will qualify for 30mph quiet way designation if they have no footway, no verges, no carriageway centre line and fewer than 1,000 vehicles a day travelling at a low average speed.

There will also need to be evidence of vulnerable road users or the potential to encourage their use of the roads.

It is expected that initial applications for reduced rural speed limits will be made by parish councils on behalf of any area known to be under traffic stress.

The new policy was presented by Wokingham’s Active Travel, Transport and Highways team, led by councillor Adrian Betteridge.

He said: “Narrow rural lanes with no footway will be priority cases and I hope that the first of the new speed limits will be introduced by mid-2026.”