Councillors in Stockport are set to discuss major changes to speed limits across the borough.

A full council meeting is taking place at the town hall this week with a motion about lowering the speed of travel on Stockport's roads.

It includes calls for a plan for 20mph limits on 'all residential streets' and to review all 40mph urban roads with a view to lowering them to 30.

Cllr Jon Byrne from the Labour opposition group will move the motion at the meeting.

He said the changes could cut deaths and serious injuries on Stockport's roads, and pointed to examples of how speed limits were lowered in Wales.

According to figures from Transport for Greater Manchester, there were three deaths and 71 serious injuries on Stockport's roads in 2024.

"It is the most cost effective way to reduce injuries on the road," Cllr Byrne told the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Rather than doing one road at a time, which is kind of the current process, the more you do, the cheaper it becomes.

"The stats in Wales, I know some people don't like it over there, but they saw a substantial drop in deaths and serious injuries in the first 12 months, I think it was a 50 per cent reduction.

"We all know that accidents happen because often people do things wrong, if you take the speed out of it and reduce the speed, the risk of those happening reduces.

"Then obviously the seriousness of them, if they do happen, reduces dramatically as well."

The motion at Stockport's full council meeting this week calls for 'clear timescales and milestones' for lower speed limits in the borough.

Stockport Council will discuss the proposals at a meeting this week (Image - Nub News)

It also demands more funding for School Streets schemes and extra camera cars for enforcement around schools.

Stockport council is led by the Lib Dems.

Cllr Grace Baynham, the cabinet member responsible for roads, said: "Stockport Liberal Democrats have had a long-term ambition to implement 20mph limits on residential roads across the borough.

"We believe that any death or serious injury on our roads is one too many which is why we are fully supportive of Vision Zero.

"We have a clear plan to work with local communities and councillors to identify where they want the funding we have available allocated for 20mph limits and road safety improvements.

"Currently there are road safety projects taking place all over the borough, from Reddish to Romiley."

Cllr Baynham said more support is needed from Westminster to support the council's ambitions for Stockport's roads.

She added: "Successive governments have failed to give road safety the priority it deserves.

"The current Labour government promised improvements by the end of this year, but it is November and we are yet to see any progress on many of the issues affecting our communities on their local roads.

"Councils need to be fully supported by government to deliver the improvements our residents deserve, and we are calling on the government to do more, act sooner and more proactively, than they have to date."

Cllr Byrne acknowledged that some residents in Stockport may not like lower speed limits, but he explained that it could help to save lives.

He added: "All you're doing is reducing the average, so it doesn't make a significant difference [to journey times].

"For example, to go from one end of St Mary's Way, all the way to the other, it's 11 seconds extra on your journey to go 30mph than going at 40mph.

"That doesn't take into account the traffic lights, which would probably actually reduce that difference because you've got to get up to speed, but if you went along without hitting traffic lights, it's 11 seconds, those 11 seconds to save someone's life, I would suggest are worth doing in my mind."

"What we want to do is make it safe so people can make mistakes, because people will make mistakes."

He also urged Stockport council to look again at the speed limit on the A34, after Manchester council lowered Kingsway from 40mph to 30mph earlier this year.

Cllr Byrne said: "On the A34, the Stockport side is only reducing to 40, which seems like a miss in my book because Manchester have been quite bold."

A spokesperson for Stockport council said: "Road safety is a top priority for the council, and we take the concerns raised by councillors and residents about road safety across the borough seriously.

"We are committed to creating safer streets, in line with our Vision Zero commitments, and we are investigating speed limit reductions on roads across the borough.

"We will consider the proposed motion alongside the current extensive programme of work we have in progress."