Thousands of miles of roads in Wales will be covered by a new default 20mph limit from Sunday 17 September and Welsh Government has published a comprehensive map of the new limits
It also covers roads where the new limit will not apply and councils may apply to retain the current 30mph restriction, but only after they have removed the current 30mph and put up the 20mph signs before reintroducing the higher limit and reinstallng the 30mph signs.
The changes are costing Welsh taxpayers nearly £27M and work on removing the current 30mph signs and erecting the new ones has been going on for months.
Some may have noticed the new signs in place but covered with grey or black sheeting.
More mobile speed camera vans have been bought by GoSafe Wales to enforce the new limits and even the Welsh fire service has been brought in to assist police and GoSafe staff by giving first hand accounts from firefighters about the aftermath of dealing with accidents which maim or kill people.
There has been opposition to the lower default limit from Welsh Conservatives and even police, emergency services and bus operators have expressed concerns about their ability to respond to incidents and their effect on timetables, with Cardiff Bus cutting some routes and amending times of others due to expected delays and congestion.
Welsh Government says the lower limit will reduce accidents, their severity and even save lives as well as reduce vehicle emissions.
A 20mph limit has been trialed in several places across Wales and has been established outside schools for some years while it is common in many foreign towns, but Wales is the first part of the UK to have the lower limit as a default and it’s being watched by other parts of the country.