Grangemouth streets see speed limits slashed to 20mph in safety drive

Falkirk Council has confirmed that 20mph speed limits will be in effect throughout Grangemouth as Phase 3 of their speed limit reduction initiative is underway.

The local authority’s 20mph programme contributes to the Scottish government’s National Strategy for 20mph.

It aims to make 20mph the standard limit on suitable urban roads, which include residential streets, town centres, and other built-up areas. Transport Scotland, who are funding the delivery of the initiative, produced guidance and criteria that the council used to decide which roads should be considered in the programme.

By July 2026, both Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the programme were live. Phase 3, which covers Brightons, Carron, Carronshore, Falkirk, Grangemouth, Hallglen, Larbert, Lauriston, Maddiston, Polmont, Redding, Reddingmuirhead, Rumford, Stenhousemuir, Wallacestone and Westquarter, has officially begun with the council confirming the rollout is underway in Grangemouth.

As of April 2026, the council proposed that 2,100 streets currently assigned a 30mph speed limit should be reduced to 20mph, and 220 streets currently assigned a 30mph speed limit should remain at 30mph.

A Temporary Traffic Regulation Order (TTRO) will be in place for 18 months, in which time the council will decide if the speed reduction should be made permanent.

If they decide to implement a permanent speed reduction, the council must introduce a Traffic Regulation Order (TRO) which includes a formal statutory public consultation where businesses, members of the public, and organisations can submit feedback on the reduction.

The feedback will then be used in the local authority’s decision making process, where they will either carry out the TRO as proposed, amend it based on public feedback, or decide to not go ahead with permanent changes on certain roads.

A Falkirk Council spokesperson said: “Work on Phase 3 of the 20mph rollout is now under way in Grangemouth, with work starting last week to install signs across the area.

“Further signage and road markings will follow, with the new 20mph limits expected to be fully in place and operational by around mid-November.”

The national strategy hopes to create safer, healthier, and more liveable communities while helping lower the number of road casualties.

Research shows that a person hit by a vehicle at 30mph is seven times more likely to be killed than someone hit at 20mph. Studies also suggest that reducing speed limits to 20mph has a minimal impact on journey times, typically adding less than 30 seconds to a two-mile trip.

Lower speed limits have also shown to reduce traffic noise. A study measuring traffic noise has shown that lower road speed limits showed around a 50 per cent reduction in acoustic energy levels.

Councillor Robert Spears, who serves Grangemouth, hopes the speed limit reduction will reduce the number of road accidents.

Mr Spears said: “Many of our streets are quite narrow and have many parked cars, especially in the evening and during the winter. It has been put in place for pedestrian safety, I hope to see a reduction in accidents.”