MOST Gourock people favour cutting traffic speed limits to improve road safety, a survey has found.

It was conducted by Councillor Chris McEleny, pictured, who is proposing a 20mph zone along Barrhill Road up to Golf Road, around Kirn Drive and Moorfoot Drive, and in the Cowal View, Carnoustie Avenue and St Andrew’s Drive area of Trumpethill, as well as surrounding streets.

He said cutting the speed limit would improve safety for drivers and pedestrians, and that he conducted the survey following growing concern among his constituents.

People from a number of streets outwith the proposed 20mph zone said they wanted the scheme extended to include all of upper Gourock, including Midton.

Out of the 122 people who responded, 95 per cent — including residents and school staff — said they favoured some form of 20mph zone, while 72 per cent called for that limit to be imposed permanently.

There was a mixed view on whether or not physical traffic calming measures should be introduced, such as speed bumps.

People said they felt there were too many cars on the roads — and too many parked cars.

They said there had been no ‘engineered solutions’ to encourage people to take particular routes to try to avoid busy areas.

The current Gourock road network cannot sustain the present volume of cars, they said, and the problems ‘will only get worse’ with the potential of hundreds of new homes.

Respondents said that children being dropped off and picked up at Moorfoot Primary exacerbates difficulties at peak hours.

Various suggestions were also made for introducing one-way streets, such as Broomberry Drive and Binnie Street, and building a new road connecting Trumpethill via Cloch Brae.
The responses were aired at Gourock Community Council, who said the very high support for 20mph could indicate that those who backed the idea were more likely to respond to the survey.

They pointed out that Victoria Road, from Golf to Ashton roads, will be closed from December 4 to 8 for Virgin Media installation work.

The community council said: “The Golf Road junction will be monitored during this time, and community feedback sought to establish whether this had a positive or negative impact on traffic.”

And they wanted a final Upper Gourock traffic masterplan to be put out to formal public consultation.

Cllr McEleny said he had road-tested the 20mph idea himself, and believed it would not add a huge amount of time on to journeys — and could even save time in some instances.

He said: “Slower speeds reduce accidents and their severity for pedestrians, especially children, and improve how quickly drivers can manoeuvre through junctions.

“With more houses planned for Gourock, it seems likely that some streets, especially those connecting the main road to neighbourhoods such as Trumpethill, will get busier.”

The community council would now like to see the next step being a full Gourock speed limit survey.