Speed limits in Hastings district to decrease as feedback weighed

Many Hastings district roads will have reduced speed limits next year. Photo / Warren Buckland

The review of speed limits of about 77 roads across Hastings district has been completed, with Hastings District Council adopting many of the proposals to reduce speeds to improve safety.

The new speed limits will be confirmed by the council at a meeting to be held in early December, with the changes likely to start being implemented early in the new year.

The process arose from public demand for lower limits on a number of roads, as well as the high-risk roads that were identified as being in the top 10 per cent for deaths and serious-injury crashes, where reducing the speed was the most beneficial and practical means to improve safety.

The roads were grouped into clusters based on the general area they appeared in: south of Havelock North, Flaxmere/Omahu, Waipatu, Hastings South, Twyford, Puketapu, Cape Coast and Tukituki. There were also several individual roads, which included the Havelock North CBD.

The wider community was asked to provide feedback on the proposals and just over 2400 submissions were received, with people asked to identify whether they lived on the roads or travelled through them.

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The speed limit on Pakowahi Rd through Pakowhai village will not be increasing from 60km/h to 80km/h. Photo / Warren Buckland

Among those 2400 submissions were 19,128 responses to the individual road and speed limit proposals.

Of the individual responses, 11,707 were opposed and 7421 were in support of changes.

Hastings District Council said in general, people submitting in favour of a proposed speed limit would submit only on the proposal that affected them, whereas submitters who were opposed tended to submit against all of the proposals.

Hearings committee chairwoman and deputy mayor Tania Kerr said aspects such as the expensiveness of engineering solutions, and international research pointing to reduction in average speeds directly reducing deaths and serious injuries, were weighed up by councillors in response to the requests from the community.

"Council has a responsibility to set safe and appropriate speeds for our roads, balancing public feedback with the technical evidence and best-practice guidelines.

"We heard from some very passionate community members, especially people who lived or worked in the area and used the roads regularly."