PEOPLE living in a rural Masterton street that has been plagued by speeding drivers may have won the day. Masterton District Council looks likely to agree to a recommendation from its engineering consultancy manager Hamish Pringle to drop the speed limit in Willow Park Drive from 80kph to 60kph from Julywhen a special Speed Limits Bylaw is adopted. The move to a slower pace in the street comes after two meetings last year between Willow Park residents, councillors and senior council staff. Mr Pringles recommendation to lower legal speeds in Willow Park Drive ? the road that comes off State Highway 2 north of Masterton and ends at Rathkeale College ? comes with several other changes planned for the street. The roadway is to be widened from 5m to 6m so a centre line and while edge lines can be painted. Shoulder strengthening work will start in June and the council is continuing to urge residents to re-site fence lines on their true boundaries to allow more space for cyclists, horses and pedestrians. Mr Pringle said fences encroached on roads "at council's pleasure" and although people were not being instructed to set the fences back to the legal boundaries, they were being strongly advised to make sure any new fences were. The proposal to cut the speed limit back to 60km/h in Willow Park Drive will, in the first instance, be considered by the council's resource management committee at its meeting tomorrow. It will then go to a full council meeting for endorsement. Apart from the meetings held with residents the council has surveyed 60 residents and 91 per cent of those who responded supported chopping back the maximum allowable speed to 60km/h. Some others suggested a compromise by cutting back from 80kph to 70km/h. The timing of a change will correspond with the introduction of a Transit New Zealand bylaw that shifts responsibility for setting speed limits from Land Transport New Zealand to road-controlling authorities.
