A proposal to lower the speed limit on Tara Road at Pāpāmoa from 80km/h to 60km/h has received mixed views. Photo / George Novak
A proposal to lower the speed limit on Tara Road at Pāpāmoa from 80km/h to 60km/h has received mixed views. Photo / George Novak
Last year Pāpāmoa resident Jackie Brady started a petition to lower the speed limit on Tara Rd from 80km/h to 60km/h.
Sixteen months later, she still hopes Tauranga City Council council will heed the call.
"Absolutely. It's still mental, it's still as dangerous as it was but it's getting worsebecause there's more traffic," she said.
Tauranga City Council was now reviewing more than 680 submissions including Brady's as part of a proposal to reduce speed limits on 11 local roads, including Tara Rd. The council also plans to bring in variable speed limits outside schools.
Jackie Brady, a resident of Twin Oak Ave, says the current speed limit on Tara Rd is dangerous and needs to be reduced. Photo / File
Brady, who lives on Twin Oak Ave, said she was concerned for residents such as herself trying to exit the side streets on to Tara Rd. She referenced a "pretty bad crash" near Ascot Drive about five weeks ago.
"Nobody does 80km/h. There's a lot of skidding and horns blowing."
Brady's petition was signed by 73 people and presented to the council on August 06, 2019.
Brady said she doubted people would stick to 60km/h but if that limit was introduced, people would potentially speed up to 70km/h instead making the potential change "worth it".
In a submission from the New Zealand Automobile Association (AA), chairwoman for the AA Bay of Plenty District Council Stacey Spall said that while the organisation was supportive of any efforts to create safer environments for road users, it did not agree with all of the council's proposed changes, particularly to Tara Rd.
Spall said feedback from members and discussions with local AA councillors highlighted a preference to see the main arterial routes for the city engineered up to meet 60km/h speed zones "to ensure that traffic and freight can move efficiently and safely around the city and this would encourage motorists to use these routes".
"Throughout the country, there is a growing sentiment of speed limit reductions being used in lieu of appropriate safety engineering and maintenance. While the AA position is supportive of many of the reductions proposed due to the significant intensification of these areas, there are some where we feel other options should be considered if there is a safety concern."
Spall said the AA mostly supported proposed changes to Ohauiti Rd, Pyes Pa Rd, Totara St and Oropi Rd.
However, the organisation "strongly" opposed proposed changes to lower the speed limit on Parton Rd and Tara Rd as these were main arterial routes.
"Tara Rd in particular, with four lanes and a wide centre, has limited entries/exits from the road, traffic flows at a safe and consistent 80km/h at non-peak times and the environment does not suggest anything lower."
The AA also did not agree with reducing the speed limit on Welcome Bay Rd from 60km/h to 50km/h as it was also a main arterial route "with limited intersections and therefore there is a need to keep traffic moving".
"There has also been substantial investment in the route with the [Maungatapu] underpass being completed to ensure traffic moves smoothly."
Some Pāpāmoa residents feel people travel too fast on Tara Rd but the AA does not support plans to lower the speed limit. Photo / George Novak
Lowering the speed limit on Kaitemako Rd to from 70km/h to 50km/h from Waipuna Park to Tobacco Hill was also not supported but Spall suggested lowering the speed limit to 60km/h in this area "to provide consistency with the rest of the roading network in Welcome Bay".
The AA did support dropping the speed limit from 100km/h to 80km/h on the road south of Tobacco Hill to the Western Bay boundary.
On Maranui and Papamoa Beach Rds, Spall said that once again, the environment did not support a 50km/h limit and questioned whether there was data to support reducing the speed limit.
"The AA, while supporting the speed limit review on the local road network, does propose that [council] review the environment of the roads to ensure that they make sense for the motorists when travelling on the road.
"We strongly oppose the reduction for Tara Rd in particular."
Submissions to the proposed changes closed on Friday.
Council director of transport Brendan Bisley said it was too early to say how many of the 680-plus submissions were in support or against the changes but this information would be included in a report that will be considered by the council in a meeting in February 2021.
Bisley said the council determined which road's speed limits needed reducing from ongoing complaints and recognising parts of the city that have changed from a rural to an urban environment.
"... They are all sites where the existing speed limit is greater than 50km/h. The increasing injury risk from higher crash speeds has been well established for many years and was one of the primary consideration in selecting these sites.
"Pedestrians and cyclists are now present in higher numbers than before yet the existing speed limits do reflect this creating increased risk to the community."
Bisley said the council assessed traffic volumes, roadside development, roadside hazards, crash risk, and road classification in determining the proposed speed limits.
"Ultimately council balances technical information and expertise with community views on what is an appropriate speed for their road or area. Similarly, there are other interventions to create safer roads that can be considered alongside speed limits, such as advisory signage, engineering upgrades and safety infrastructure treatments."
The changes could come into effect as early as March next year.
