Drivers ignoring Shifnal '20's plenty' campaign

The "20's plenty" campaign was launched in Shifnal earlier this year, which calls for a reduction in speed near the town’s schools and residential areas.

A neighbourhood watch traffic survey report has been released which monitored 2,561 cars travelling through a number of streets in the town.

The streets monitored were Newport Road, High Street, Broadway, Bradford Street, Shrewsbury Road, Innage Road, Church Street, Haughton Road, Haughton Lane, Currier s Lane, Coppice Green Lane, Aston Street, Park Street, Park Lane, Barn Road.

Of the 2,561 cars monitored 31 per cent were travelling at 31mph or more, and 11.5 per cent were travelling at more than 35mph.

The highest speed recorded was a motorcycle which was travelling at 56mph on Innage Road.

The number of vehicles travelling at 20mph or less was 2.5 per cent.

Keith Dovaston, a member of Shifnal Neighbourhood Watch, says in the report: "Is '20's plenty' working? The answer at this stage is no.

"On '20's plenty' only areas around the schools and in the town centre, with regards to all other roads, there must be enforcement either by the police or community speed watch in the first instance.

"Owing to the lack of police resources and time, a community speed watch group could monitor certain roads or streets and identify areas and time of day in which the problem of speeding is occurring and work with the police to save time and effort plus valuable resources."

Mr Dovaston added that there are "very dangerous" hotspots in the town.

"There are several hotspots in our town which I class as being very dangerous owing to the high speed of traffic," he added.

The hotspots identified include the road approaching Haughton Village from Telford, High Street opposite the new Co-op, Innage Road, Church Street, and the junction of Park Street and Park Lane.

Mr Dovaston concludes that to enforce the 20's plenty scheme, the areas must have either speed bumps, chicane, or raised sections.