A SPEED limit on a busy Flintshire road should be scrapped, some residents have said.

Opinions have been divided over whether average speed cameras should be installed along the A494 as part of Welsh Government’s pledge to reduce nitrogen dioxide.

The Leader has previously reported that a temporary 50mph limit was placed along the stretch of road last summer and discussions are taking place over the best way to enforce speed reduction and reduce NO2 levels which are ‘above legal limits’.

Pat Hargreaves said: “Nobody sticks to it especially lorries they drive past us all the time and my husband says people flash at him but he ignores them. As far as he’s concerned he’s sticking to the speed limit and he has to as he’s in the emergency services and could lose his job if he were to get penalty points on his licence.

“He loves it when the lorries pass him and when he gets to 60mph and whizzes past them he laughs his head off. Get the cameras up these mad drivers need to be put in their place.”

Cllr Mike Evans of Shotton, said: “There is vast confusion with the road layout when heading into North Wales when two lanes become three then back to two.

“This initiates the tailbacks especially at peak times, it should just be two lanes then it would cancel any confusion and allow traffic to flow.

“As for the 50mph limit this should come into force parallel with the old Raf camp, but I can't imagine where they have got their over inflated figures from of £400,000 to implement it.

“I travel at least once a week to Llandudno and there is a 50mph restriction on the A55 just after Llandulas to past Colwyn Bay and that works I can't ever remember getting stuck in tailbacks there ,I do think people over complicate things when the answers are quite simple.”

A report published last year - the A494 Deeside WELTAG Stage Three Report - shows that management measures for reducing NO2 levels were put across five different locations, including the A483 Wrexham.

The cost of enforcing the speed reduction - which is labelled as a likely measure - would be £400,000.

The cost would include average speed enforcement cameras and equipment, traffic signs and ongoing maintenance.

However, motorists say there is little point due to the fact no-one sticks to it anyway.

James Steven said: “The only thing going backwards is speed limits, in a world where most of us already have very little, if any spare time, every minute counts.

“Soon we’ll be back to horse and carts because they’re safer or better for the environment. Unfortunately due to the fact that a human is always in control of a car there will always be errors no matter what the speed is.”

Wayne Simon added: “Who worked out that doing 50 through there is better than 70, going through in a lower gear and higher emissions and taking longer and crawling for nearly three miles on a Friday, strange decision with no facts to back it up to favour going slower.”

Cinders Drury said: “Well it could because we have kids to drop off at school/breakfast club/nursery/childminders before we have to drive to jobs to earn the wages we need to pay the rent or mortgages to live in our grossly overinflated houses and eat and pay the taxes so people who DON'T have these worries can sit in big offices and make decisions that directly and usually negatively affect us peasants.

“That's why people are always in a rush.”

Mike Roberts said in Australia, speed limits cause more harm than good.

He added: “World is becoming over cautious

“Here in Australia speed limits have been reduced and all it does is increasing traffic jams as cars spend more time getting from point A to point B.

“In the Northern Territory they implemented speed limits only to reverse the decision as it had absolutely no impact on road accidents or injuries.”