COLIN CAMPBELL: How many Highland 20mph limits are misplaced?
The plastering of roadways with symbols indicating there's a 20mph speed limit in place continues to gather pace.
The latest to be branded I saw was Glenurquhart Road in Inverness. Cycling from Tomnahurich bridge the large "20" marking painted inside a perfectly formed white circle was strikingly clear to me, but not to anyone else it seemed.
The drivers it was aimed at rolled over it as if it wasn't there. Some may not have noticed it. Many may have noticed it and ignored it. Either way, it made absolutely no difference to anything.
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Council surveys have been carried out analysing the speed reduction effect of new 20mph zones in towns and villages across the Highlands. A figure of 1.7mph has been seized on by critics of the speed curb attempts and cited as evidence of how ineffective they are.
The reduction in Glenurquhart Road has not hit 1.7mph. I'd wager that it stands at a big round "zero".
Being a bike user I would generally welcome any attempt to reduce the danger posed by cars, in the same way as I'd personally welcome being given the cycling freedom of Academy Street.
But the plan to reduce speeds along a main artery like Glenurquhart Road to just 20mph has much in common with the ill-fated proposal to remove traffic from Academy Street.
Both achieve nothing and are going nowhere.
It took years to get Transport Scotland to install a pedestrian crossing on Glenurquhart Road. In fact it almost took longer to get them to agree to do that than it did to build Spaghetti Junction.
So even the most high-octane optimist in the council transport department must have had doubts that imprinting a "20" circle in Glenurquhart Road would achieve its purpose.
The intent to reduce traffic speeds to 20mph in this area began in residential streets in Inverness, sometimes after accidents or near misses had been reported, and there it made perfect sense. It may not have been wholly effective but there's reason to believe it would have had some effect on drivers threading their way through narrow streets with rows of parked cars and the ever-present possibility of a child darting out in front of them.
But Glenurquhart Road is just one location where this initiative is misplaced. It cuts through a built-up area, but part of it more resembles an extension of the A82 than a narrow residential street. And anyone pausing to look for a few minutes can see that attempts to reduce driving speeds on it to 20mph are being completely ignored.
Following a public consultation Highland councillors and officials will review the successes and failures of their speed restricting ambitions. There are multiple locations in the Highlands where it appears they aren't working and where it is claimed they are an unnecessary hindrance to traffic and have little public support. In that case no matter how well-intentioned this is it's time for a rethink.
The more widespread the "20" branding becomes, the more likely it is that drivers will get accustomed to ignoring it without any fear of penalty, including in neighbourhoods where it is necessary and could save lives.
