MP backs speed cut calls at Evenwood Gate, Teesdale Mercury

MP backs speed cut calls at Evenwood Gate

Aug 9, 2007

MP Helen Goodman has once again taken up the case of residents at Evenwood Gate, by supporting renewed calls for a 40mph speed limit throughout the village.

Residents are campaigning for a reduction to the current 60mph zone in order to limit the number of accidents that have occurred in recent years.

Ms Goodman first raised this issue with Durham County Council in 2005 but the authority continues to maintain that it is ‘not practical’ and ‘impossible to enforce’ a 40mph zone at Evenwood Gate.

She has written to Durham County Council and the police, urging them to reconsider the speed limit in light of the specific circumstances of Evenwood Gate.

Roger Elphick, head of Highway Management Services for the county council said: "The situation at Evenwood Gate is that we have a very small settlement on one side of a main road with drivers travelling at an average speed of 50 mph. 

"It has been our view in the past that simply putting up signs with a 40 mph speed limit will do little to change driver behaviour and meet the concerns of local residents. 

"Instead, we intend to explore further the possibilities of additional engineering measures - perhaps in association with a revised speed limit - to ensure that we have a real and lasting effect on traffic speeds.”

Full story in next week’s Mercury