Objections to a 20mph expansion were set aside as Kingston Council implemented Traffic Management Orders (TMO) on 14 roads.  

In a Kingston and North Kingston Neighbourhood Committee meeting on 10 October, councillors debated the expansion of TMOs. 

The decision on implementing the scheme on Kingston Vale and Kingston Hill was deferred after rigorous debate.

It will be brought back to the Committee in November with a recommendation where 20mph should begin and 30mph end. 

The council proposed to reduce all existing 30mph speed limit roads in the Kingston & North Kingston Neighbourhood Committee area to 20mph. 

These roads include: 

If the council committee set aside the objections to the works, the earliest completion is anticipated to be during Spring 2024.  

The costs of installing signage, road markings and TMO are estimated to cost £20k. As this scheme is part of the LIP programme, the expenditure will be wholly funded by TFL. 

Prior to the meeting, 65 resident responses were submitted to a council email address. In total, 13 supported the 20mph expansion, 18 supported it but had concerns, 10 neither supported nor objected and 24 objected. 

Of the 18 residents which supported but had concerns about the proposal, many agreed with the 20mph on the side roads but not the main roads. These included: Coombe Lane West; Kingston Road; Kingston Hill; London Road; Cambridge Road.  

Others wrote in agreement of the speed limited but added it would be useless without enforcement. 

The council considered that speed enforcement is the responsibility of the police and thus will depend on the resources available.  

Residents (10) who neither supported nor objected, also saw lack of enforcement as an issue. Feedback statements said the proposal on all roads in the Borough will have no effect because they saw many drivers doing 30mph or more on the already 20mph roads.  

Map of Kingston 20mph and 30mph zones. (Photo: Kingston Council documents)

Key for map. (Photo: Kingston Council documents)

Comments from the 24 residents objecting the plan said the 20mph limit is not needed and the streets are as safe as they can be.  

Information provided to the council considered lower speed limits are expected to reduce the number and severity of collisions. Since the 20mph speed limits have been introduced across London, there have been reductions of 1.7-5mph across most sites surveyed. 

Many believed the traffic measures would exacerbate the neighbourhood roads as it would create more pollutions with journeys taking longer, causing more congestion.  

Additional material summarised in a council report said that reducing the speed limit makes traffic speed more consistent by distributing traffic more evenly across the network, leading to reduced acceleration and thus a drop in non-exhaust emissions. 

Residents said it would make their business life hard and less productive. Others argued it would waste more council money on changing the road signs and causing confusion.  

Regarding funding, the project is fully funded by Transport for London's Local Implementation Plan grant to Kingston and fully aligns with the Mayor of London's Transport Strategy and his Vision Zero which aims to eliminate all casualties arising from road traffic accidents 

Considering the objections, the council concluded none of the concerns raised were issued that had not already been thought out prior to the committee making the in-principle decision in February 2023.