20mph rollout continues as DOI 'refines approach'

There was backlash to the all-Island, residential area approach which culminated in Tim Crookall replacing Dr Michelle Haywood as Infrastructure Minister and immediately pausing the rollout.

Now, his department says it's tweaked the proposals to prioritise locations that will benefit pupils, parents and school staff.

Signs for the new 20mph zones are being introduced in areas near the following schools:

• St Ninian’s High School
• St Mary’s Primary School
• Ballakermeen High School
• Henry Bloom Noble Primary School
• Scoill yn Jubilee/St Thomas’

The department says it hopes the new approach 'strikes a balance between maintaining safe travel around schools and allowing strategic through‑routes to continue operating effectively'.

Plans for new 20mph zones on the Island came about after Douglas Central MHK Ann Corlett gained support in Tynwald, during the previous administration, for the new limits to be introduced in residential areas. This was reaffirmed in 2023.

Mrs Corlett told Manx Radio she only wanted the new restrictions around schools in her constituency, and never intended for there to be a 'blanket 20mph limit' on the Island. 

The Department of Infrastructure says the area targeted in its new approach 'encompasses the neighbourhood in which Douglas Central MHK Ann Corlett’s campaign for lower speed limits began'.