IT'S been a long wait but the road through Bowershall that's regularly used by "boy racers" and HGVs is to have a new speed limit.

It will be reduced from the current 60mph limit to 40mph on a stretch from the northern outskirts of Townhill all the way to the junction with the B915 at Balmule Fisheries.

Safety concerns on the C53 road were flagged up in August 2021 when the then councillor Mino Manekshaw tabled a motion at a Fife Council committee calling for change.

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At the time he said: “We always talk about people travelling at an appropriate speed but we never talk about appropriate speed limits.

“My contention is that the speed limit is too high. People don’t realise that 60mph is 88 feet per second – it’s very fast.”

He said residents, Townhill Community Council and local police had expressed concerns about the level of traffic as well as the use of the road by “boy racers”.

As the road spans two council areas approval was needed from two committees.

City of Dunfermline councillors gave it the thumbs up last week and their colleagues on the South West Fife area committee did so on Wednesday.

There was no explanation in the committee reports why moves to cut the speed limit have taken so long.

The road is used by goods and agricultural vehicles travelling in both directions to access sites such as skip hire firm WM Russell & Sons and the M90 Commerce Park at Lathalmond.

It also forms part of National Cycle Route 1, the longest cycling route in Britain.

Cllr Manekshaw pointed out: "Despite the fact it is a rural community, it’s such a busy thoroughfare, and one of the main exits from Dunfermline going north.”