Three dangerous rural roads in West Lothian are set to get new speed limits and traffic calming measures by the start of winter- two years after residents started a petition calling for safer roads.
Cathlaw Lane in Torphichen, Slackend crossroads which is a dangerous staggered junction and the road leading north out of the village of Westfield, are the three areas of concern.
Councillor Tom Conn told the final meeting of the Council before the summer break that the statutory process for cutting speed limits had started in April, with consultation with local people and the community council.
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He added that the results of that consultation will come back to the council’s Executive in August and the decision will be taken from there to progress it.
Work could start by November. Costs have been estimated at around £114,000 but have yet to be finalised.
The narrow roads traversing the Bathgate hills north of the town have historically been 40mph zones. Villagers in Torphichen first brought a petition to the council in the Autumn of 2020 asking for those limits to be cut and more safety measures put in.
They cited a list of dangers including blind bends and summits, concealed entrances, and lack of pavements beyond village boundaries. The 40mph speed limit they claimed was largely ignored on the narrow roads.
The start of lockdown in early 2020, coupled with advice on getting out for exercise, also brought more traffic onto the roads cars and cyclists, adding to the dangers. Initial surveys by roads engineers said that accident statistics and speeds did not merit the introduction of traffic calming measures.
Local Independent councillor Stuart Borrowman questioned that and backed the experience of the villagers in Torphichen. He was also critical of the lack of investment in the ward- Armadale and Blackridge- which was some £5m less than promised in the run up to the 2017 election.
The Executive - at it's last meeting before this May's election - eventually backed a motion from the ward’s Labour member Andrew McGuire to kick start the process by holding statutory consultation. The final parts of that consultation will be advertising the proposals and seeking a response from the public.
Councillor Borrowman this week told the Local Democracy Reporting Service: “I’m pleased that progress is being made and we look as though new limits should be in place before this winter.”
The Torphichen calls for speed limits also fuelled calls for speed limit cuts across the county in Mid Calder. Local Tory councillor Damian Doran-Timson was critical of the council’s reliance on accident stats to govern road safety measures and pushed for changes.
Council roads engineers are also now looking at the removal of the 20mph zones set up during the Spaces for People programme introduced in the summer of 2020. All of these zones were temporary and the same statutory consultation will have to be gone through to retain any .
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