PLANS have been drawn up to reduce the speed limit of a key road in the Stroud area. 

Gloucestershire County Council have unveiled proposals to introduce a new 40mph limit on the 50mph section of the A46 Painswick Road.

The proposed change would be introduced between Stroud and Painswick including the A4173 Pitchcombe junction.

According to officials, the area has had one fatal and several serious collisions over the last five years.

In October 2022, an 86-year-old woman died in hospital after being hit by a car near Salmon Springs.

As a result, the stretch of road has been flagged as a ‘hotspot’ location in the county that requires intervention.

It is hoped if the plan is approved, the road would become safer for all road users including pedestrians and cyclists in the area. 

It comes as a section of the Painswick Road has been closed since July 29 and is due to reopen today, Friday, August 30 after investigation and repair work.

Plans have been revealed to lower the speed limit of the Painswick Road to 40mph  (Image: Google Maps)

Explaining the proposal, a council document reads: “The scheme is being proposed primarily to improve road safety and amenity for all highway users.

“There has been one fatal and several serious and slight personal injury collisions in the vicinity of the Pitchcombe junction in the last 5 years. 

“This has been flagged up on the Gloucestershire “Hotspot List” as a location that requires intervention. 

“The Gloucestershire Road Safety Partnership has launched a casualty reduction program, which includes the rollout of an average speed limit camera enforcement strategy. 

“This scheme proposal is the preferred pilot for such enforcement measures should the speed limit reduction be successful.

“Additionally, within the proposal area there are numerous accesses, informal pedestrian crossing points and facilities which would benefit from the proposed reduced speed limit.

“As part of the assessment of the proposed 40mph speed limit, four Automatic Traffic Count (ATC) surveys were undertaken in order to ascertain whether a 40mph speed limit would be enforceable and observed by drivers. 

“The surveys demonstrated that the vast majority of existing mean vehicle speeds were within or close to the Association of Chief Police Officers (ACPO) guideline intervention level of 46mph. 

“The police have been consulted and have raised no objections to the proposals on the proviso that the average speed limit camera enforcement is in place on inception of any new speed limit.”

You can read more about the plans here - tinyurl.com/38mvmnyn

Anyone wishing to comment on the proposal should comment by 12pm on Friday, September 27. 

The plan showing the proposed 40mph speed limit (in red) on the A46 Painswick Road  (Image: Gloucestershire County Council)

A map showing collisions along the A46 Painswick Road over the last five years  (Image: Gloucestershire County Council)