Speed limits to be cut on all new streets 'to put pedestrians before motorists'

PEDESTRIANS must be put before cars whenever new streets are built in Scotland, the Scottish Government has ruled.

In a new policy document, the government spells out that pedestrians should be considered the first priority and private cars the last priority.

"Designing Streets: A policy statement for Scotland" also makes clear that a 20mph speed limit should "normally be an objective" for residential streets. They should be designed as places where people can socialise, rather than as areas for traffic to move through. The policy document, which can be used as a basis to turn down planning permission, has been welcomed by campaign groups fighting for greater priority for pedestrians.

John Swinney, the cabinet secretary for finance and sustainable growth, said: "Scotland's best streets provide some of the most valuable social spaces that we possess. The process of street design offers an opportunity to deliver far more to our society than simply transport corridors."

He added: "I welcome Designing Streets as a new policy document which puts place and people before the movement of motor vehicles," he added.

The document makes clear that cycle parking should be at least as easy to access as car parking. Local facilities should be a maximum of a five-minute walk away. And crossings should be designed to put people, not cars, first.

Bus stops should be safe, comfortable and easy to access, and street signs kept to a minimum to make sure that the neighbourhood looks as appealing and uncluttered as possible.

The document spells out: "Creating good streets is not principally about creating successful traffic movement. It is about creating successful places."

It goes on: "Street user hierarchy should consider pedestrians first and private motor vehicles last."

Streets should even be built to make sure they are as bright and sunny as possible, and avoid facing into the prevailing wind.

Traffic-calming should be used to make sure cars slow down, but this should not just be done using speed humps, which "do little to develop a positive sense of place", the document goes on.

Instead, features should be built into the design, such as road narrowings and landscaping, to encourage traffic to slow down.

Keith Irving, Scotland manager for charity Living Streets, which campaigns for the rights of pedestrians, said he particularly welcomed the commitment to make 20mph the norm on residential streets, but he called on local authorities to make sure this happened on all streets, not just new developments.

He added: "Putting people and place before the movement of motor vehicles is a positive step forward in helping us to tackle the obesity epidemic, reduce our carbon footprint and revitalise our local economy by encouraging more people out on to the streets in their towns and communities."

However, he added that there was a "world of difference" between the aspirations in the document and the "reality on too many of our streets".