A Dundee councillor has called for drivers to be made more aware of an updated speed limit on a highly debated section of Dundee’s busiest road.
The Courier revealed earlier this week that more than 1,300 drivers had been fined since a controversial new 40mph zone was imposed on a stretch of the Kingsway.
At the start of February 2015 the legal speed limit between the Clepington Road junction and the Forfar Road junction was reduced from 50 to 40mph.
The move sparked debate, with some motorists describing the decision as “a joke”.
Figures obtained by The Courier show that just 114 speeding offences were recorded on the stretch during the whole of 2014. In 2015 that figure jumped to 1,386.
A total of 32 offences were detected in January last year, one month before the new limit came into effect.
The revelation has led to Liberal Democrat councillor Fraser Macpherson questioning if signs around the area are clear enough to drivers.
He said: “There is an obvious concern at the situation given the large hike in fixed penalties since the speed limit was changed.
“It seems to me that the lower speed limit requires greater publicity and also a review of the speed limit signage is required.
“The issue I have is the need to properly promote the lower limit to ensure people are aware.
“The lower limit’s a good thing but you have to ensure that it’s very well promoted.
“I am for the limit being reduced if it leads to a safer Kingsway but I find it difficult to believe that a very large number of drivers are deliberately going over the speed limit.”
In response, a spokesman for trunk road operators BEAR Scotland said: “As part of the speed limit reduction which was made in February last year, substantial signing alterations were made to ensure that signage was compliant with national standards and to make road users aware of the new restriction.
“In addition to this, 40mph road markings were also painted on the road surface at various locations to reinforce the revised speed limit to drivers.”