Rhondda Cynon Taf Council is due to make a traffic regulation order to revert 22 roads from 20mph to 30mph
There are 22 stretches of road in Rhondda Cynon Taf (RCT) which are now officially set to revert to 30mph from 20mph. A council report said a traffic regulation order was set to be made to introduce the changes.
A public notice on the council’s intention to change the speed limit on the 22 roads saw 37 objections but council officers met with local councillors to discuss the objections received relating to the proposed changes within their respective wards.
In response there were no objections from the councillors to the proposals for the 22 sections of road to change to a 30mph speed limit, so the 37 objections were rejected.
The stretches in question are:
- A4059 in Penderyn north of the school
- A4059 in Penderyn south of the school
- Hirwaun Industrial Estate
- Swansea Road/Merthyr Road in Hirwaun
- Llanwonno Road in Mountain Ash
- Abercynon Link Road
- Sardis Road in Pontypridd
- Coedcae Lane in Pontyclun
- Ynyshir Road (Wattstown roundabout) in Ynyshir
- Penrhys Road in Tylorstown
- Hirwaun Road in Trewaun
- Station Road in Church Village.
- Llwyncelyn Road in Porth
- Upper Boat roundabout
- A4054 Cardiff Road (northern extent) in Rhydyfelin
- A473 Nant Celyn roundabout Church Village Bypass
- B4595 Talbot Road in Llantrisant.
- B4276 Harriet Street Llwydcoed Road in Llwydcoed (southern extent)
- Cwmynysminton Road in Llwydcoed
- A4233 East Road (in part) in the Rhondda Fach
- Upper Boat to Midway Retail Park, and Gelli Hirion Industrial Estate
- Gwaunmiskin Road (southern extent) in the Beddau and Tyn-y-nant ward.
The Welsh Government introduced a default 20mph speed limit in September, 2023, and 84 roads in RCT were exempted at that point.
Following widespread public debate and a petition submitted to the Welsh Government at the end of 2023 with nearly 500,000 signatures, there was significant objection to the principle of the 20mph limit, a council report said. For our free daily briefing on the biggest issues facing the nation sign up to the Wales Matters newsletter here.
A review found significant variation in the number of exceptions applied across Wales with some councils keeping very few 30mph limits.
This led to the Welsh Government publishing updated guidance to help councils decide whether it was safe and appropriate to raise speed limits to 30mph on restricted roads while also considering local context and conditions.
Following a national listening programme during the summer of 2024, RCT council received 313 requests from residents and organisations to review speed limits.
In early 2025, approximately 90 distinct road locations were identified for review by the council.
A review panel then highlighted 26 candidate roads out of the 90 to be potentially changed back to 30mph.
The report said councillors made strong representations for not increasing the speed limit from 20mph to 30mph on four sections of road in support of their local residents.
As a result, Berw Road in Pontypridd, Cardiff Road to Main Road in Llantrisant, Brynteg Lane in Beddau, and the A4058 Ystrad Road in Pentre were withdrawn and remain with a 20mph speed limit.
There were two objections in relation to the lane section of Chepstow Road that leads to Tylacoch Place in Treorchy but this is outside the specific scope of the Welsh Government’s 20mph speed limit review and was one of eight other road sections for other various speed limit changes identified through the wider review process.
Here, the current 30mph speed limit will be withdrawn and the road will revert to the default 20mph limit.
Should there be a speed limit?
Should there be a speed limit?
