The council’s ruling Liberal Democrat group has allocated £60,000 in the council’s budget to pay for a review, research, consultation survey and design work over the next two years.
They have also reserved £400,000 to implement new schemes if the idea gets the approval of residents and businesses.
Cambridge City Executive Councillor for Planning and Sustainable Transport, Tim Ward said: “There have been some concerns that the current approach of creating a patchwork of small 20mph zones may not work very well. So we want to carry out a review to determine which work best and look at other areas which might benefit from a lower speed limit.
“We already have several 20mph zones which have been implemented following campaigns from local residents, and there are other small schemes in the pipeline. The proposed project includes extensive consultation to find out where people do and don't want 20mph zones. A possible outcome is that all residential and shopping streets will have 20mph limits whilst main roads will stay at 30mph.”
Cambridge City Council was granted the freedom to implement 20mph speed limits after the government announced it was cutting red tape so that local authorities no longer had to get Whitehall permission before they could act.
Cllr Ward added: “There are clearly safety benefits from introducing lower speed limits in areas where there are more pedestrians such as streets where there are shops and homes.
“And it has been well documented that, if a road accident were to happen a pedestrian has a far greater chance of escaping serious injury or being killed when a vehicle is travelling at 20mph.
“But we won’t be making any decisions until we have fully consulted on this issue and reviewed how present schemes are working; and we will only act if it’s what our residents want.”
The move has been welcomed as a victory for localism, allowing councils to act faster in response to the needs of their residents.
Local County Councillor Andy Pellew who has been campaigning for a 20mph speed limit on Northfield Avenue outside King's Hedges Primary School said; "This is a very welcome development. We must make sure that this opportunity is fully utilised by making sure that local residents are fully involved in the process of setting up these new zones."
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