Council commits to ’20mph on all local roads’

Speed limits of 20mph will be “standard on all local roads” in Birmingham, the council has confirmed in a major vision for the city’s future.

Having declared a road safety emergency back in 2024, the city council said towards the end of that year that it was exploring the possibility of introducing more 20mph speed limits.

Talk of a ‘city-wide’ 20mph speed limit proved divisive both on social media and in the council chamber at the time, with some arguing motorists were being unfairly punished.

But amid deep concern over the number of people being killed or seriously injured on city roads, the desire for lower speed limits has featured in a number of key city council strategies.

And now the authority has reaffirmed its stance on 20mph limits in its Local Plan, a massive document which sets out how it can help shape the city’s future in the coming years.

The blueprint for the next two decades sets out how the council, now run by a coalition including the Lib Dems and Greens, can support economic development and attract investment.

When it comes to sustainable transport, the council wrote in this huge strategy that ‘active travel’ will be prioritised in local neighbourhoods.

“Walking and cycling will become how most people get around their locality most of the time,” the authority said. “Cars will no longer dominate street life around homes and schools.

“A limit of 20mph will be standard on all local roads.

“Residential neighbourhoods and local centres will be places where people are put first.”

According to the document, these ‘local roads’ would not include A class roads in Birmingham, which represent some of the “most important and busiest
metropolitan” routes within the region.

But roads outside of that category, such as residential streets, would be subject to the 20mph limit.

The council said: “For all local roads (B and C class, and unclassified roads), 20mph speeds will continue to be implemented as part of a gradual rollout, through the delivery of the Birmingham Transport Plan.

“There is a significant body of evidence which proves that reducing vehicular speed limits to 20mph on local roads has a disproportionately positive impact on the incidence of fatal and serious injuries from road traffic collisions.”

The transport plan, adopted back in 2021, has ambitions of also introducing 20mph limits in ‘local centres’ in Birmingham, arguing that ending the dominance of cars in such areas would “improve air quality and reconnect communities”.

The council’s former transport boss Cllr Majid Mahmood said last year that slower speed limits on appropriate roads would reduce collisions and save lives.

“Approximately one third of the city’s roads are already subject to a 20mph speed limit,” he said back in 2025.

“We would like to expand the number of roads subject to this speed limit where appropriate and are currently exploring opportunities to carry this out.”

The council’s new leadership, which took over earlier in the summer, has expressed support for slower speeds on residential roads in particular too.

“You also need enforcement as well,” Green councillor Julien Pritchard, deputy leader of the council, said earlier this year. “We’re talking residential roads, roads that are clearly not designed for through-traffic at speed.

“We want safer streets where children can play and it’s a nice environment to be in, rather than race tracks.”

Asked about those who claim there’s a ‘war on motorists’, he responded: “I think the war is on pedestrians and vulnerable road uses – if there’s a war out there, it’s on some of the most vulnerable people using our roads.

“It’s not about punishing [motorists], it’s just about making streets safer for everybody.”

The Birmingham Lib Dems, which has a number of councillors in key leadership positions, said speed reduction would be a priority in their manifesto ahead of this year’s local elections.

They said: “We should move to residential roads being 20mph, where there is local support and enforcement capability, along with other local speed reductions tools, such as road-narrowing and signage.”

Plans to introduce more 20mph limits in Birmingham would have to go through consultation first.

The council has taken other action too, recently completing a major project to cut limits from 40mph to 30mph on 27 roads in a bid to make streets “safer and more welcoming”.