20mph scheme lands SBC an award

The council has been given an award for its 20mph scheme.

It was announced at the time that 20mph was to be the default speed limit across towns and villages in the Borders.

The council is currently carrying out public consultation over making the speed limits permanent, even though it has enraged some who say that 20mph zones should not be introduced where there is no proven benefit, and there were fears that fuel consumption was higher.

Late last year it was even revealed that council officials had received death threats over the issue as part of a public survey.

Despite the controversy the local authority scheme has now been awarded the prestigious Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation (CHIT) Road Safety Award.

The award recognises ‘outstanding achievements which improve road safety through excellent practice, design and technical application’.

The trial was run in conjunction with Transport Scotland and Sustrans and with input from academics at Edinburgh Napier University, who carried out an independent evaluation from 125 survey sites.

A police forum said that over the last year there has been a 34.6% reduction of accidents on Borders roads since the introduction of the trial.