It is likely the new speed limits will come into effect within the next two years. The timing and cost of implementing the changes will be shared between the council and NZTA, subject to resource and funding availability.
All other rural roads that have a speed limit of 100km/h will retain this limit. No speed limits will increase.
Council is also working with marae case by case to provide safer connections for their communities.
“We want people to be safe on all our roads, but special care needs to be taken in areas where there are more pedestrians, like schools, marae and town centres. We hope the new speed limits will raise driver awareness and reduce the risk in these locations,” says Mayor James Denyer.
“No one knows local roads more than the people who drive them, which is why there was a strong focus on local knowledge when setting the new speed limits. During the consultation process, we received close to 200 submissions, which helped us shape this plan.’’
The council’s draft speed management plan went out for consultation in October. At that time, a 50km/h speed limit was proposed for all urban roads and an 80km/h limit for rural roads, with the exceptions of schools, marae, town centres and priority areas identified by council.
Of the 197 submissions received, reducing speed limits around schools during peak times had the most support, and not much support for the blanket 80km/h limit for rural roads.
“The legislation that the draft plan was prepared under has changed under the new Government, and a speed management plan is no longer mandatory,” explains Mayor James.
“However, we are still going to use the plan and people’s feedback to guide speed limit changes, as we think it’s a good way to have a kōrero with the community on road safety and speed limits.”
A national speed limit register is now the legal tool used to set speed limits, and the council’s speed management plan, which will be reviewed every three years, will guide what’s included in the register.
— Western Bay of Plenty District Council