A NEW 20mph speed limit is being installed in a village near Weston-Super-Mare next week.

Work to create a new 20mph zone in Hutton will begin on Monday (September 23), taking three days to complete, North Somerset Council said.

The council said the scheme is part of it’s “commitment to improving road safety and sustainable travel”.

Hutton will see the 28th 20mph zone introduced since 2000, with recent areas including Wrington, Uphill, Nailsea, Clevedon (The Beach / Hill Road area), Weston-super-Mare (Baker Street), Pill and Easton-in-Gordano, seeing the new limit.

Further schemes are also planned for Kenn following consultation with residents this autumn, while contractors are being lined up to deliver new limits in Yatton.

The council said 20mph zones support a commitment to be carbon neutral by 2030, providing sustainable travel routes across the area to offer health and wellbeing benefits to residents and encourage more cycling and walking, as well as reducing car travel.

The Hutton zone aims to provide safer routes for walking, cycling and horse riding through the village with the introduction of 20mph limits (signs and lines) and a 20mph zone using traffic calming measures.

The council said scheme will be introduced with minimal possible disruption, and will also:

• Improve safety for those travelling throughout the village
• Provide safer access to the primary school in the centre of the village to enable safer walking for children
• Reduce the speed limit on Old Mixon Road from 40mph to 30mph.

A public consultation on the 20mph limit was held in October last year, with 80 per cent of responses in favour of its introduction.

READ MORE: 20mph limits proposed in 15 Somerset towns and villages: Full list

Cllr Hannah Young, executive member with responsibility for active travel, said: “We are delighted to be introducing a 20mph zone in Hutton that will provide a safer environment for people to move around the village on foot, wheel or horse.

“We have consulted with Hutton Parish Council, local ward members and community organisations including school and residents, and there is huge community support for this project.

“We look forward to its completion and the positive impact it will have on the community as a whole.”

Ward members for Hutton and Locking, Mike Solomon and Terry Porter, added: “We are pleased this scheme is finally coming to fruition as this will help to make Hutton safer for pedestrians and horse riders as many drivers dangerously race through the village.

“We will still be pushing to extend this scheme coming into and leaving the village.”