All existing speed limits in North Yorkshire are to be reviewed as part of a new countywide speed management strategy.
Until now, North Yorkshire Council says it has relied largely on public requests to initiate speed reviews.
Under the new approach, officers would proactively assess the entire road network over several years.
North Yorkshire Council’s executive member for highways and transport, Cllr Malcolm Taylor, said: “In consultation with our road safety partners, we have produced a speed management strategy with the aim of reducing injuries and risk on our urban and rural roads.
“The new approach would help to encourage active travel which will improve the health and wellbeing of the public as well as contributing to carbon reduction.
“We want to ensure that we have a consistent, proactive and countywide approach to speed limits, and make sure communities are consulted every step of the way.”
The council currently has a £57 million budget to deliver its highways capital programme, covering improvement schemes and road safety measures.
An additional £100,000 has also been secured for speed limit reviews and related schemes for 2025/26 through the new Local Transport Grant administered by the York and North Yorkshire Combined Authority.
Work to introduce lower speed limits has been ongoing. A revised 20mph speed limit and zone policy was introduced in January 2022 and reviewed in July 2023.
The council also began a review of speed limits outside all 400 educational sites last year, prioritising locations with the highest speeds. It now applies a presumption in favour of lowering limits around schools and in other areas.
The speed management strategy will be considered by Cllr Malcolm Taylor and Karl Battersby, the council’s corporate director of environment, at a meeting on Friday, November 28.
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