Transport / Councillors give green light to temporary 50mph limit above Levenwick
A REDUCED fifty mile per hour limit is to be introduced on the A970 above Levenwick after the move received the backing of councillors.
A decision on the temporary limit, designed to act as an interim measure ahead of road safety improvements, only went in front of elected members because of a single objection from Dunrossness Community Council.
Members of the community council had felt the 50mph limit would be “pointless” and would “not solve the main issue of the road being too narrow”.
They also said upgrading of the road to make it wider should “remain the priority”.
He said at a meeting of Shetland’s community safety and resilience board last week in his view it was “crucial” to get a reduced speed limit in place until the road is improved.
A report to councillors on the SIC’s environment and transport committee on Monday said the reduced speed limit would revert back to 60mph once improvements are made to the road.
It added that a road safety check was carried out in late 2009 following a traffic accident at a blind summit.
The check identified a number of issues including poor visibility at three blind summits, two bends with poor horizontal alignment, steep side slopes along the east side of the road and the lack of safety barriers at locations where national guidance deems them necessary.
Improvements to the A970 at Levenwick is second on the SIC’s list of major road programmes behind the planned replacement of the Cullivoe road in Yell.
Responding to Dunrossness Community Council, the SIC’s roads manager Neil Hutcheson had said “while the narrow carriageway on the A970 at Levenwick is a problem it is not the issue that the proposed 50mph speed limit is intended to address”.
He said: “The road’s surroundings and its poor alignment could be a contributory factor in the severity of any accidents occurring along this length of the A970, especially the steep bank on the east side of the road.
“The blind summits and tight bends also increase the likelihood of an accident.
“In these situations, where the road has not been designed to the latest standards, we will consider introducing a reduced speed limit to reduce the likelihood of accidents and to reduce their severity should they still occur.
“This is in line with the ‘Safe System’ approach to road safety that the council recently adopted.
“A part of this system is speed management and the use of speed limits, where appropriate, to reduce vehicles’ speeds.”
In a letter Hutcheson continued by saying the A970 at Levenwick, due to the various hazards along its length, would be considered a suitable road length for a reduced limit.
“The intention is that this would be introduced on a temporary basis until the road’s width and alignment are improved,” he added.
Hutcheson had also said there has been one ‘serious injury’ accident and four ‘slight injury’ accidents on the road in the last 20 years, according to police records.
Three of these involved vehicles turning at junctions and the other two saw vehicles lose control and leaving the carriageway.
Hutcheson wrote in a letter to the community council that it is “likely that speed would have been a contributory factor in a number of these accidents” and as there were no accidents where vehicles “collided outwith junctions […] it would appear that the narrowness of the carriageway has not resulted in any injury accidents during this 20 year period”.
At Monday’s meeting councillors were in agreement that the 50mph limit should be introduced.
Committee chair Moraig Lyall said she understood it would not address the wider concern of the community council but added that it should improve road safety on an interim basis.
She added that even with 50mph signs it might alert new drivers coming from Sumburgh Airport that it is an area to be cautious in.
Development committee chair Dennis Leask also said he accepted the objection from Dunrossness Community Council but said with capital budget pressures the “road widening may be some years off”.
Meanwhile Shetland Central councillor Catherine Hughson continued to press the need for improvements for the road between Whiteness and Weisdale, adding her view that the Cova junction and corner is “just as dangerous” as the A970 at Levenwick.
Back in 2023 councillors approved a reduced 50mph limit there.
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