How many road signs Newport council has taken down for 20mph switch

Wales will become the only UK nation to enforce a default 20mph limit on restricted roads on Sunday, September 17 - although the Scottish Government has expressed an intention to follow suit.

The slower speeds will improve road safety and save money over the next three decades by reducing pressure on paramedics and hospitals, the Welsh Government has said.

But the move has provoked strong reactions on both sides, with University Hospital of Wales paediatric emergency consultant Dr David Hanna describing the slower speeds as “lifesaving” and a senior South Wales Police officer admitting the 20mph limit “will have an impact” on how fast police can reach incidents.

The Welsh government’s chief medical officer Sir Frank Atherton has labelled the switch to 20mph as the “biggest change in community safety we have seen in Wales for a generation”.

How many road signs are being put up in Newport for the switch to 20mph? (Image: NQ Staff)

More than 100 roads in Newport have made it onto the council’s exempt list and will retain their current 30mph limit.

Some, such as Caerleon Road and Cardiff Road, will only have certain stretches exempt from the change.

A Freedom of Information request submitted to Newport City Council has now revealed how many 30mph road signs must be removed and how many 20mph signs set up – though the council were only able to give approximate figures.

Newport council must remove 170 road signs and set up around 310 in order to achieve “compliance” by September 17.

Over the last three financial years, the Welsh Government has given councils more than £36 million to implement the change – including £215,000 for English border authorities in Gloucestershire, Herefordshire and Cheshire West and Chester.

Newport City Council has been allocated £625,200 in that time.