CONCERNED residents of an historic St Albans street are petitioning for a 20mph speed limit in the area. St Michael s Primary School in St Michaels Street was the first to raise the issue and Dr Grant Klein, chair of the school s travel safety group, org

CONCERNED residents of an historic St Albans street are petitioning for a 20mph speed limit in the area.

St Michael's Primary School in St Michaels Street was the first to raise the issue and Dr Grant Klein, chair of the school's travel safety group, organised a petition this summer to reduce the speed limit on the street from 30mph.

He said: "The school is unique in Herts because it is split between two sites so children are regularly moving between the two. From our perspective, it seems a no-brainer to set a lower speed limit."

Other justifications for the proposal include the narrowness of the street, the fact that it serves many popular attractions such as The Waffle House and the Roman museum, and poor sight lines on the bridge over the River Ver and on the corner of St Michael's Church.

Nearly 500 people signed the petition over the course of June and July, which is more than there are people in St Michael's village. Dr Klein said he was amazed by the level of support: "For a small community, that amount of signatures is phenomenal. And what's more, in collecting them there were no objections."

Dr Klein, who lives just around the corner from St Michael's village in Kingsbury Avenue, presented his case to the district council's highways joint members panel last Wednesday, and believes it has been positively received.

He added: "Although it's a pretty torturous process, I'm hopeful that things will move quickly when Herts Highways discuss the issue at their next meeting in January. Especially because I believe our request is in line with the council's scheme to reduce speed limits in the city centre anyway.