New 30mph limit for bottom of Lyneham Banks in Wiltshire
The 40mph limit at the top of the road is set to stay
A new 30mph speed limit is being brought in at the bottom of Lyneham Banks in north Wiltshire – despite calls for a lower limit on another part of the notorious road being rejected.
The restriction on the B4069 at Dauntsey forms part of a wider shake-up of traffic controls around Lyneham Banks, where the road was rebuilt following its spectacular collapse in 2022.
But a separate push to reduce the existing 40mph limit at the top of the Banks, around Chippenham Road and the Bradenstoke junction, has not been successful.
An update from Wiltshire Councillor Allison Bucknell said the cabinet member responsible for highways, Martin Smith, had been sympathetic to calls for a reduction, but had backed an officer assessment recommending the 40mph limit remain.
An alternative review of measures to improve pedestrian safety was subsequently offered.
Meanwhile, traffic regulation orders covering other changes have been progressing, including retaining the 20mph limit through Bradenstoke and imposing a new 30mph limit at the bottom of Lyneham Banks in Dauntsey.
By July, consultation responses were being processed before the measures were signed off by the council’s cabinet member.
The restrictions are part of the continuing fallout from the extraordinary collapse of the B4069 in February 2022.
A huge landslip broke up the carriageway and shifted part of the road around 25 metres downhill, leaving it closed for more than three years.
Wiltshire Council eventually reopened it on April 2, 2025 following a complex reconstruction costing around £5 million.
The lengthy closure also transformed traffic patterns on surrounding country roads as motorists were diverted away from the Banks.
Temporary speed and traffic restrictions were introduced on routes including Hollow Way, Sodom Lane and Clack Hill, while further measures were planned for Bowd’s Lane, Trow Lane and Chessley Hill.
The council is now separately pursuing permanent 7.5-tonne restrictions on the B4069 and several surrounding roads amid concerns about HGVs using the narrow rural network.