Surveys underway to see if more High Barnet roads need 20mph speed limits to make it safer for motorists and pedestrians
After requests from residents Barnet Council is carrying out a speed survey in Salisbury Road — part of the route of the 384 bus service — to see if it justifies the introduction of a 20mph speed limit.
A survey is also being conducted a few hundred yards away to see if a 20mph speed limit should be introduced on the much busier Stapylton Road where pedestrians have complained that the traffic can be too fast to cross in safety.
Stapylton Road by-passes Barnet High Street and is a heavily used link between the roundabout at the Black Horse public house and St Albans Road.
When parking spaces are full, the curve on the carriageway makes it difficult to see fast approaching vehicles.
Numerous roads in and around High Barnet – especially where there are schools nearby – already have 20mph restrictions.
Barnet Council said residents asked for a 20-mph speed limit in Salisbury Road because they consider speeding is an issue especially given the narrowness of the carriageway when cars are parked on both sides of the road.
If the surveys show speeding is a problem, there will be a public consultation before decisions are made.
Many residents still oppose the use of the upper section of Salisbury Road — from Alston Road to Stapylton Road — by buses on the 384 Edgware to Cockfosters bus route.
The lower section of Salisbury Road – from Stapylton Road to High Street – is largely one-way but much busier and is it is on the route of five bus services – 234 (Spires-Archway); 326 (Spires-Brent Cross); 383 (Finchley Memorial Hospital); 384 (Edgware-Cockfosters); and 399 (Hadley Wood).
Lowering the existing 30mph limit on Salisbury and Stapylton Roads would extend the 20mph limit which already applies in Alston Road (from the junction with Marriott Road to Salisbury Road) and the 20mph limits on Wentworth Road and Byng Road which serve Foulds and Christ Church primary schools and the Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice.
Another group of busy roads where a 20mph limit has been introduced includes Mays Lane, from the junction with Chesterfield Road to Barnet Lane and Barnet Lane from the junction with Underhill almost to the junction with Totteridge Village.
A 20mph limit also applies in Fairfield Way, Grasvenor Avenue, Sherrards Way and Western Way.
8 thoughts on “Surveys underway to see if more High Barnet roads need 20mph speed limits to make it safer for motorists and pedestrians”
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Reducing speeds involves enforcement. If vehicle speeds were “self certified” we wouldn’t need speed cameras, so it’s obvious that Police cars and Officers to enforce the limits are required and this involves expenditure that no-one’s prepared to spend.
As regards the 20 MPH limit, it’s needed in [i]some[/i] areas at [i]some[/i] times, but not [i]all[/i] the time [i]everywhere[/i]. Why can’t Barnet Council install yellow flashing lights with a warning sign stating the 20 MPH limit applies when the lights are flashing (school opening and closing times) but not 24 hours a day? This would remove the ridiculous situation of one having to drive along the entire length Mays lane at 3am at 20 MPH, when 30 MPH would be far more appropriate!
Something really needs to be done about the buses using Alston Road, Salisbury Road and The Avenue (maybe even their use of Stapylton Road and St Albans Road need a rethink).
Yesterday (23rd October 2024), a 1 metre deep hole appeared outside The Stable in Salisbury Road (caused by the buses no doubt) leading to that end of Salisbury Road being closed. And at the same time in the High Street two trenches were excavated outside KFC (by the looks of it to fix a leaky water main), and temporary traffic lights were put up at the St Albans Road end.
These two small incidents were enough to grind everything to a halt and led to absolute chaos with diversion signs being hastily put up and traffic jams forming along all of the roads I’ve mentioned. The quantity of cars during rush hour (and the school run) didn’t help, but it was clear that the buses made the whole debacle infinitely worse.
Surely the buses would be better off sticking to the main roads? These side roads are so short, would it really inconvenience that many people to have to walk the short distance to get to the High Street or Stapylton Road to catch a bus? Surely a door-to-door mini bus service could be employed to help out those that genuinely need assistance… and wouldn’t that be cheaper than running all these extra bus routes where the buses are empty most of the time during the day?
These roads do need to be made safer and a 20mph limit would help, but they’ll never truly be safe if the buses continue to use them.
As residents of Alston Road, we have asked repeatedly for a 20mph zone extension from the junction with Salisbury Rd, all the way up to the width restrictions gate near Alston Works. Schoolchildren and cyclists are in danger as cars slingshot from the 20mph corner into a 30mph stretch from the Sebright Arms. It is a major pedestrian route for Foulds and Christchurch Primary Schools and should not be allowed to be a bypass to reach St Albans Road and the motorways.
Barnet has far too many cars parked on streets that obstruct traffic – particularly buses. Red route these roads to get rid of on-street parking and make buses more efficient for passengers and other road users.
20mph..it’s a no brainer,why waste money on surveys.Barnet Councillors should visit Hackney where 20mph camera enforced,rat runs shut ,cycling not life endangering!
As usual Barnet years behind in spite of a newish regime.
Meanwhile drive fast as you like where you like when you pass the Welcome to Barnet Sign..
I agree it should not just be signage. Road design needs to slow people down, and there needs to be enforcement.
I would just like to echo the point made that the 384 bus route should never have been allowed to use the “upper section” of Salisbury Road in the first place. The residents know all too well how that single-handedly destroyed our old road surface. And, due to the weight of these new electric buses, is causing damage to the new road surface as well (particularly around the manhole covers, and there’s nasty sinkage forming at the Stapylton Road junction).
From what we witness on a daily basis in Salisbury Road, the bus drivers are actually some of the worst culprits when it comes to speeding and being aggressive to other road users. A 20 MPH speed limit would make sense, but so too would: a) having a separate 5 MPH speed limit for the buses, because it’s quite obvious that they’re too wide for Salisbury Road; b) making the whole of Salisbury Road one-way; or c) preventing the buses from using Salisbury Road altogether. Some of the speeding is in fact a consequence of the buses causing blockages where, once the bus has got through, other cars or delivery vans (who have had to yield) will drive off at a speed they wouldn’t have driven at originally had they not been blocked by a bus.
But if speeding and dangerous driving is on the agenda, is anyone finally going to do something about these joyriders who terrorise the streets in and around Barnet at night in/on their high performance sports cars and motorbikes? They’ve been a menace for years!
Making efforts to catch people already speeding, driving dangerously, smoking weed etc. would make much more difference than more 20mph signage.