Green light for 30km/h speed limit in Wellington

The speed limit in a number of downtown Wellington streets could be reduced to 30km/h as early as next week.

Wellington City Councillors yesterday voted for the new speed limit along Lambton Quay and Willis Street, a busy shopping and office area used by about 30,000 pedestrians daily, The Dominion Post reported.

The initiative stemmed from a coroner's report into the 2004 death of a woman who was killed when she stepped in front of a bus in Willis St.

Mayor Kerry Prendergast said an informal agreement between council and bus operator Stagecoach to reduce bus speeds to 30km/h had not worked.

The limit will apply to lower Willis St, Lambton Quay and parts of Willeston St, Mercer St, Customhouse Quay and Bunny St.

- NZPA