Speed limit cuts proposed

A109 Light Utility Helicopter flight with mayor Gisborne City from the air in November 2023.

Wide-ranging slashes to the speed limits here have been proposed that include a new 30 kilometres an hour limit on several city centre streets.

Gisborne District Council's regional transport committee will tomorrow meet to discuss a report recommendation that council officers proceed to develop a final draft speed management plan to align with the Long Term Plan consultation process.

The proposed draft speed management plans includes some key changes that would see the speed environment around schools at school times set at 30kmh for urban schools and 60kmh for rural schools.

A 30kmh limit is also proposed where there are high numbers of people walking, cycling and crossing the road.

“This will cover areas including roads around marae which are key local community hubs, similar to schools,” the report says.

In addition, speed limits across the Gisborne inner city streets will be reduced to 30kmh, excluding some major streets.

Residential local roads will be constructed for a 40kmh environment within the city, and where vehicular access to beaches is available, for example Makorori Beach, the report recommends limiting access and applying 30kmh speed limits.

Speed limits of 40kmh are proposed for rural townships at Matawai and Te Araroa.

The local road network within the Te Araroa township is 70kmh but the report says the Safer Journeys Assessment Tool suggests 40kmh is a safe and appropriate speed limit.

It is also proposes the speed limit in Matawai's Raumati, Terrace, Kerei and Kirk streets should be reduced to 30kmh.

“For a consistent speed across the local road network, the urban sections of Motu Road should also be reduced to a 30kmh speed limit,” the report says.

The urban road section of State Highway 2 through the township is managed by Waka Kotahi New Zealand Transport Agency and will not be considered under the speed management plan.

A safe speed limit for the rural section of Motu Road (which ranges from 50 to 100kmh speed limit signs to the north) has been assessed as 80kmh for that section of Motu Road.

“The operating speeds recorded in the tool suggest that vehicles are already travelling around 75kmh to 79kmh, therefore this data confirms that an 80kmh speed limit is supported,” the report says.

The report points out that for the Gisborne district, the percentage of all crashes involving inappropriate speed in the 2010-2019 period has varied from over 10 percent up to around 20 percent.

The total number of crashes recorded in the district over the last 10 years was 3865, of which 2063 happened on Gisborne district roads.

While there were no crashes involving inappropriate speed recorded in the immediate school zones, the report found there were a significantly high number of crashes that happened in the vicinity of schools where the posted speed limit is 50kmh.

If approved tomorrow, a map of the Gisborne district will be put together to allow the council to develop a “speed management vision” for the region.

The council will then work closely with industry stakeholders, communities, schools and businesses to ensure proposed changes to speed limits or infrastructure will improve safety and access for all, and any measures implemented will reflect what the community has told the council about their streets.

“Stakeholder and local communities will always be kept informed on any proposed infrastructure changes.

“During the speed management review, if a change to a speed limit is required or desirable, a legal process has to be followed using Land Transport Rule – Setting of Speed Limits 2017.

“The council will always consult with stakeholders and the community before asking . . . to approve any changes to the register of speed limits.”