Opposition to North East Lincolnshire speed limit plan
A plan to reduce speed limits in parts of North East Lincolnshire has run into opposition.
The borough council wants to cut the limit from 70mph to 50mph on parts of the A180 dual carriageway and introduce 20mph limits in residential areas.
The Labour-run authority said the measures would reduce road casualties.
Conservative councillors and a local businessman have spoken out against the plan. A public consultation is to be held before a decision is made.
The £500,000 project would be paid for by central Government.
Councillor Chris Shaw, leader of the council, described the A180 as an "accident blackspot" and claimed the Conservatives in the council had not come up with any alternative suggestions.
Mr Shaw said: "As a highways authority we do have a very small number of tools in the drawer. One of them is we can impose speed restrictions.
"We want to make our roads safe."
Conservative councillor Philip Jackson said he supported reducing speed limits near schools, but he had concerns about introducing restrictions across the area.
He said: "We need to make sure that if we're spending that amount of money on road safety initiatives that we're getting the best value for money in terms of reducing the number of people who are injured on our roads.
"And I am not convinced that introducing blanket speed limits is the best way of doing it."
Property manager Hayden Dawkins, from Grimsby, has set up a petition against the plans.
He said Grimsby was already "very close to gridlock" and introducing 20mph limits was unnecessary.