MK City Council (MKCC) is committed to making the city’s roads as safe as possible by introducing a 20mph speed limit within residential areas. You are seven times more likely to survive being hit by a vehicle travelling at 20mph than 30mph.
The local community must support the reduced speed limit to help with compliance and raise awareness.
In an area where a 20mph limit is introduced, the speed limit will be self-enforcing and MKCC will install signs to notify drivers. We will not introduce traffic calming measures too such as speed humps or cameras.
We recommend that parish, town or community councils apply for a 20mph limit for an area rather than individual streets. This is a more efficient and effective method of implementing the speed limits and reduces costs to cover wider areas. It also means that speed reduction is within a wider area which will have a greater impact and prevent accidents.
The criteria below apply to the Adopted Highway (MKCC-owned roads). If you are unsure if a road is adopted highway or not, check the street name or postcode on the My MK Mapping interactive tool. Any adopted highway areas are shaded in blue. Some development areas may be unadopted, and are under the ownership of the landowner.
How to request a 20mph speed limit.
Please note: we only accept direct applications from parish, town, or community councils. Residents should contact their local parish, town or community council if they want a 20mph zone in their area.
To be eligible for a 20pmh speed limit introduction, your area must meet the following conditions:
- Located within a built-up area in an urban area, town, or village within the MK Borough where vehicles and pedestrians will mix.
- Ideally, the area of the proposed 20mph zone should be bounded by grid roads, other main roads, or geographical features, such as parks, rivers, canals, railways etc.
- Have an existing speed limit that is 40mph or under.
- Allow for 20mph signs to be applied to allow self-enforcement.
- Have the support of the local parish/town or community council AND at least two ward councillors.
- Can evidence local community support for a reduced speed limit in an area (petition)
Each year we will batch any approved 20mph zone schemes and implement within the available annual budget.
Submitting your application.
You should send your application form to us by email to highways.liaison@milton-keynes.gov.uk or you can post it to Traffic and Transport Team, Civic Office, 1 Saxon Gate East, Milton Keynes, MK9 3EJ.
You should also include:
- written support from at least two ward councillors.
- evidence of community support (petition)
Please note: If you do not include the above items your application will not be considered.
What happens next…
The application window each year is between 1 April and 31 August. We will then review all applications submitted and conduct any necessary site assessments and checks.
A final list of approved schemes will be circulated to all parishes and ward councillors from January. These schemes will then be implemented within the next financial year (from 1 April).
If your scheme is not included on this final list, there is no need to reapply again as any schemes that we cannot include will be added to the following years’ programme unless additional budget can be secured.
If a scheme cannot be implemented for any reason, you will be notified before the final list of circulated.
|
Date Period |
Activity |
|
April to August |
Application window |
|
September to December |
Assessments/site visits |
|
January to March |
Final scheme list announced for next financial year |
|
From1 April |
Approved schemes implemented within a planned programme |
|
April to August |
New application window opens |
Petition Template
To help the parish, town or community council with their application, we have produced a template for the petition if they wish to use it. This is not mandatory and if they prefer they can produce their own version however this sets out the key information that we need to see in order to process the application.