Isle of Man Treasury urged to reconsider funding for new 20mph zones

The government said introducing more 20mph zones was not a current priority

The Manx government should reconsider its decision not to fund new 20mph zones in residential areas, the Isle of Man Green Party has said.

The Treasury previously rejected a £2.9m bid from the infrastructure department to implement the changes.

That was despite Tynwald backing the introduction of the zones in 2020.

Party leader Andrew Langan-Newton said they had an "obvious benefit" to public safety and would reduce both carbon emissions and air pollution.

Although there would be "some money that has to go in", it would be saved in the long-run by reduced private and public medical expenses, he said.

"Competing requests"

Mr Langan-Newton said his party had written to Dr Allinson to clarify whether he had considered those benefits, after the Treasury turned down the DOI's funding request prior to this year's annual budget presentation.

Dr Allinson said the bid for the money over a four-year period could not be supported due to "competing requests" at a time when the government's capital programme was under "significant pressure".

In October, Infrastructure Minister Chris Thomas told Tynwald the government had committed to producing an island-wide transport strategy by July 2024, which may include work on the 20mph zones.

In a statement, the Isle of Man Green Party pointed to a recent Welsh government study which found savings made from reducing casualties outweighed costs of implementing lower speed limits in urban areas.

Mr Newton urged the government to introduce the limits "as a starting point" to encourage a "culture change" on Manx roads, which he said could be done before changes in infrastructure were needed.

Reducing speeds by as little as 1mph could "have a significant reduction in the impact of crashes", he added.