A SPEED limit on a city road has been reduced but one driver has called the change 'stealthy' with only one sign making city motorists aware they now have to go slower.
The speed limit has been reduced from 40mph to 30mph on the A38 Bath Road near the Ketch roundabout - but one driver says more needs to be done to make the change clearer.
Ian Chapman, 49, of Barnes Way in Worcester says city drivers may well carry on driving at 40mph as only one sign makes it clear that the limit has been dropped to 30mph as you exit the roundabout, a change brought in over the last fortnight.
The A4440 has a 60mph limit, dropping to 40mph as you get nearer the Ketch roundabout, but now the speed limit reduces again to 30mph as drivers turn off the roundabout into Bath Road.
Mr Chapman said he was not against the reduction in the limit in principle - as there is a pedestrian crossing, the Toby carvery, Aldi and B&M - but that more needed to be done to emphasise the change so drivers could adjust.
From the other direction (coming up Bath Road) there are now no 30mph signs at all. This is because the speed limit does not change - it is effectively now an extension of the limit which runs all the way along Bath Road.
Mr Chapman had been taking his daughter for a driving lesson when he noticed the old 30mph signs near the Harvester had gone and thought at first they might have been removed for cleaning.
He said: “Beware the speed limit on the A38 from the Ketch Roundabout towards Worcester is now signposted as 30mph (reduced from 40mph). I noticed the 30mph signs had been removed from the old start of the zone.
"The 30mph signs are set far to the left just after the Ketch roundabout. Just at the point you’re negotiating the usual cars that pull out without looking.
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"There are no “New Speed Limit” signs. This is a stealth act to catch people speeding, not aware the limit has changed.
"I don’t when this happened, spotted the old 30mph signs were missing over a week ago, but only spotted the new 30mph sign this evening.”
John Renshaw, chairman of St Peter's Parish Council, said: "The point that has been raised is a good one, that the change has happened and it appears that there is nothing to indicate to people there has been a change unless you're coming off the bypass where there's one sign.
"The parish council will be looking to promote it a bit more. This change has happened but people need to become more aware of it."
However, he says the change was not introduced to 'catch people out'.
Mr Renshaw said he understood the start of the old 40mph limit marked what had been the city boundary at Elm Green Close but that St Peter's had since changed and developed.
A spokesperson for Worcestershire County Council, said: “We have changed the speed limit following a request from the local County Councillor and Parish Council. The statutory process was completed, and no objections were received. The reduced 30mph limit was then implemented.”
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