NZ Herald
  • Home
  • Latest news
  • Herald NOW
  • Video
  • New Zealand
  • Sport
  • World
  • Business
  • Entertainment
  • Podcasts
  • Quizzes
  • Opinion
  • Lifestyle
  • Travel
  • Viva
  • Weather

Subscriptions

  • Herald Premium
  • Viva Premium
  • The Listener
  • BusinessDesk

Sections

  • Latest news
  • New Zealand
    • All New Zealand
    • Crime
    • Politics
    • Education
    • Open Justice
    • Scam Update
  • Herald NOW
  • On The Up
  • World
    • All World
    • Australia
    • Asia
    • UK
    • United States
    • Middle East
    • Europe
    • Pacific
  • Business
    • All Business
    • MarketsSharesCurrencyCommoditiesStock TakesCrypto
    • Markets with Madison
    • Media Insider
    • Business analysis
    • Personal financeKiwiSaverInterest ratesTaxInvestment
    • EconomyInflationGDPOfficial cash rateEmployment
    • Small business
    • Business reportsMood of the BoardroomProject AucklandSustainable business and financeCapital markets reportAgribusiness reportInfrastructure reportDynamic business
    • Deloitte Top 200 Awards
    • CompaniesAged CareAgribusinessAirlinesBanking and financeConstructionEnergyFreight and logisticsHealthcareManufacturingMedia and MarketingRetailTelecommunicationsTourism
  • Opinion
    • All Opinion
    • Analysis
    • Editorials
    • Business analysis
    • Premium opinion
    • Letters to the editor
  • Politics
  • Sport
    • All Sport
    • OlympicsParalympics
    • RugbySuper RugbyNPCAll BlacksBlack FernsRugby sevensSchool rugby
    • CricketBlack CapsWhite Ferns
    • Racing
    • NetballSilver Ferns
    • LeagueWarriorsNRL
    • FootballWellington PhoenixAuckland FCAll WhitesFootball FernsEnglish Premier League
    • GolfNZ Open
    • MotorsportFormula 1
    • Boxing
    • UFC
    • BasketballNBABreakersTall BlacksTall Ferns
    • Tennis
    • Cycling
    • Athletics
    • SailingAmerica's CupSailGP
    • Rowing
  • Lifestyle
    • All Lifestyle
    • Viva - Food, fashion & beauty
    • Society Insider
    • Royals
    • Sex & relationships
    • Food & drinkRecipesRecipe collectionsRestaurant reviewsRestaurant bookings
    • Health & wellbeing
    • Fashion & beauty
    • Pets & animals
    • The Selection - Shop the trendsShop fashionShop beautyShop entertainmentShop giftsShop home & living
    • Milford's Investing Place
  • Entertainment
    • All Entertainment
    • TV
    • MoviesMovie reviews
    • MusicMusic reviews
    • BooksBook reviews
    • Culture
    • ReviewsBook reviewsMovie reviewsMusic reviewsRestaurant reviews
  • Travel
    • All Travel
    • News
    • New ZealandNorthlandAucklandWellingtonCanterburyOtago / QueenstownNelson-TasmanBest NZ beaches
    • International travelAustraliaPacific IslandsEuropeUKUSAAfricaAsia
    • Rail holidays
    • Cruise holidays
    • Ski holidays
    • Luxury travel
    • Adventure travel
  • Kāhu Māori news
  • Environment
    • All Environment
    • Our Green Future
  • Talanoa Pacific news
  • Property
    • All Property
    • Property Insider
    • Interest rates tracker
    • Residential property listings
    • Commercial property listings
  • Health
  • Technology
    • All Technology
    • AI
    • Social media
  • Rural
    • All Rural
    • Dairy farming
    • Sheep & beef farming
    • Horticulture
    • Animal health
    • Rural business
    • Rural life
    • Rural technology
    • Opinion
    • Audio & podcasts
  • Weather forecasts
    • All Weather forecasts
    • Kaitaia
    • Whangārei
    • Dargaville
    • Auckland
    • Thames
    • Tauranga
    • Hamilton
    • Whakatāne
    • Rotorua
    • Tokoroa
    • Te Kuiti
    • Taumaranui
    • Taupō
    • Gisborne
    • New Plymouth
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Dannevirke
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Levin
    • Paraparaumu
    • Masterton
    • Wellington
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Blenheim
    • Westport
    • Reefton
    • Kaikōura
    • Greymouth
    • Hokitika
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
    • Wānaka
    • Oamaru
    • Queenstown
    • Dunedin
    • Gore
    • Invercargill
  • Meet the journalists
  • Promotions & competitions
  • OneRoof property listings
  • Driven car news

Puzzles & Quizzes

  • Puzzles
    • All Puzzles
    • Sudoku
    • Code Cracker
    • Crosswords
    • Cryptic crossword
    • Wordsearch
  • Quizzes
    • All Quizzes
    • Morning quiz
    • Afternoon quiz
    • Sports quiz

Regions

  • Northland
    • All Northland
    • Far North
    • Kaitaia
    • Kerikeri
    • Kaikohe
    • Bay of Islands
    • Whangarei
    • Dargaville
    • Kaipara
    • Mangawhai
  • Auckland
  • Waikato
    • All Waikato
    • Hamilton
    • Coromandel & Hauraki
    • Matamata & Piako
    • Cambridge
    • Te Awamutu
    • Tokoroa & South Waikato
    • Taupō & Tūrangi
  • Bay of Plenty
    • All Bay of Plenty
    • Katikati
    • Tauranga
    • Mount Maunganui
    • Pāpāmoa
    • Te Puke
    • Whakatāne
  • Rotorua
  • Hawke's Bay
    • All Hawke's Bay
    • Napier
    • Hastings
    • Havelock North
    • Central Hawke's Bay
    • Wairoa
  • Taranaki
    • All Taranaki
    • Stratford
    • New Plymouth
    • Hāwera
  • Manawatū - Whanganui
    • All Manawatū - Whanganui
    • Whanganui
    • Palmerston North
    • Manawatū
    • Tararua
    • Horowhenua
  • Wellington
    • All Wellington
    • Kapiti
    • Wairarapa
    • Upper Hutt
    • Lower Hutt
  • Nelson & Tasman
    • All Nelson & Tasman
    • Motueka
    • Nelson
    • Tasman
  • Marlborough
  • West Coast
  • Canterbury
    • All Canterbury
    • Kaikōura
    • Christchurch
    • Ashburton
    • Timaru
  • Otago
    • All Otago
    • Oamaru
    • Dunedin
    • Balclutha
    • Alexandra
    • Queenstown
    • Wanaka
  • Southland
    • All Southland
    • Invercargill
    • Gore
    • Stewart Island
  • Gisborne

Media

  • Video
    • All Video
    • NZ news video
    • Herald NOW
    • Business news video
    • Politics news video
    • Sport video
    • World news video
    • Lifestyle video
    • Entertainment video
    • Travel video
    • Markets with Madison
    • Kea Kids news
  • Podcasts
    • All Podcasts
    • The Front Page
    • On the Tiles
    • Ask me Anything
    • The Little Things
  • Cartoons
  • Photo galleries
  • Today's Paper - E-editions
  • Photo sales
  • Classifieds

NZME Network

  • Advertise with NZME
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • BusinessDesk
  • Newstalk ZB
  • Sunlive
  • ZM
  • The Hits
  • Coast
  • Radio Hauraki
  • The Alternative Commentary Collective
  • Gold
  • Flava
  • iHeart Radio
  • Hokonui
  • Radio Wanaka
  • iHeartCountry New Zealand
  • Restaurant Hub
  • NZME Events

SubscribeSign In
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.
Home / New Zealand

Should the speed limit on Rotorua's urban roads drop to 40km/h? NZTA thinks so

By Cira Olivier & Stephanie Arthur-Worsop
Rotorua Daily Post·
6 Jun, 2019 11:31 PM6 mins to read

Subscribe to listen

Access to Herald Premium articles require a Premium subscription. Subscribe now to listen.
Already a subscriber?  Sign in here

Listening to articles is free for open-access content—explore other articles or learn more about text-to-speech.
‌
Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Hamurana and Awahou Ratepayers and Residents Association chairman Jerry Douglas. Photo / Stephen Parker

Hamurana and Awahou Ratepayers and Residents Association chairman Jerry Douglas. Photo / Stephen Parker

Speed limits on most suburban Rotorua roads should be lowered to 40km/h and many 100km/h roads on the city's outskirts should be lowered to at least 80km/h.

That is the recommendation of the New Zealand Transport Agency, which suggests many roads in Rotorua and the rest of New Zealand should have lower speed limits to be considered "safe and appropriate".

But Rotorua Lakes Council says the city's specific requirements and environments need to be taken into account when setting limits.

NZTA's Mega Maps online risk assessment tool - which the agency and councils use as a guide for deciding new speed limits - suggests just 5 per cent of open roads should have the current 100km/h posted speed limit.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Explore the interactive map

Instead, Mega Maps suggests a safe and appropriate speed of between 60km/h and 80km/h would apply to most stretches of open road.

For most urban areas, the safe and appropriate speed would be between 30km/h and 40km/h.

In Rotorua, roads such as Ranolf St, Otonga Rd, Vaughan Rd and Tutanekai St should have 40km/h limits while roads such as Fairy Springs Rd, which is currently 60km/h, should be lowered to 50km/h.

It has been suggested lowering sections of State Highway 5 and SH30 towards Taupō and SH33 towards Tauranga to 80km/h.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Main roads like Fenton St, Clayton Rd, Sunset Rd and Malfroy Rd have been assessed as safe to remain at 50km/h.

But some Bay of Plenty drivers do not think speed is a risk or that speed limits should be changed, despite 17 road deaths in the region so far this year.

Discover more

Editorial

Editorial: Speed tweaks part of saving lives on roads

08 Apr 05:00 PM
Opinion

Soper: I lost my brother in a crash. The road toll's cost is immeasurable

16 Apr 06:00 PM
New Zealand

Deadliest April in a decade: Revisiting other horrific crashes

28 Apr 07:32 PM
New Zealand

Family heartbreak: Parents, 5 kids killed in horror crash

28 Apr 11:45 PM

According to NZTA research carried out in 2017 on New Zealanders' attitudes to road safety, risk and safety solutions, 33 per cent of Bay of Plenty drivers were more likely to oppose speed limit reductions compared with 25 per cent of the national average.

Two-thirds were also more likely to think the roads were safe for themselves compared with 58 per cent nationally.

Most people believed community conversations would lead to improved safety yet few agreed the right road risks were being talked about.

• Check the interactive graphic below to see fatal and serious crashes on NZ roads since 2000 and how current speed limits compare to the safe and appropriate speeds suggested by Mega Maps.

Road deaths since 2000

Each red dot on the map shows one fatal road crash. Zoom in to explore.

Serious injuries in road crashes since 2000

Each purple dot on the map shows one serious road injury crash. Zoom in to explore.

Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Hamurana and Awahou Ratepayers and Residents Association chairman Jerry Douglas side roads Ward Rd and Turner Rd needed to be lowered to 50km/h.

These side roads, which have no footpaths, have 100km/h speed limits.

"Kids get out on the road, they walk to school, walk to the bus stop. It can be pretty dangerous at times, especially when people hoon," Douglas said.

The Hamurana community fought to reduce Hamurana Rd from 70km/h to 60km/h which Douglas said had made a big difference.

Rotorua Rural Community Board chairwoman Shirley Trumper said high speed, drivers ignoring speed limits and over-confidence were great concerns.

This had become increasingly troublesome with the increase in traffic volumes, new drivers on the roads and schools, Trumper said.

"It's poor driver behaviour. People use the speed limit as a target."

She said although changing speed limits in certain areas was necessary to make Rotorua roads safer, early driver education was equally important.

100km/h speed limit

NZTA's Mega Maps planning tool estimates 95 per cent of NZ's open road should have a lower speed limit than 100km/h. Drag the slider from left to right to see how many roads are affected.

"Changing the speed may mean if you drive through a fence you won't kill yourself . . . but it is not going to change driver behaviour," Trumper said.

Local resident Michael Macgregorbelieved lowering speed limits would not target the right issue.

"On Old Quarry Rd and Gordon Rd, the speed limit is 50km/h but you have certain people going as fast as they can down those roads.

"The speed bumps on Gordon Rd are ineffective as they taper off near the gutter and centre line so you can steer through them without hitting the bump.

"There's a breakdown of our society in that some people have no regard for the law so lowering speed limits will do nothing to encourage those people to start adhering to them."

Macgregor said making suburban roads 40km/h would only make it less convenient for the average, law-abiding motorist.

"In order to buy a gun you need a licence but you don't need a licence to buy a car, even though both can be deadly."

Macgregor said, in his opinion, the only way to deter speeding drivers would be to install speed bumps right across the road.

Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure group manager Stavros Michael said the council had speed limit reviews about every three years and focused on roads highlighted by the community, those which have had changes to them, and ones highlighted for other reasons, such as Coroner's reports.

"While the NZTA maps provide a guideline, it's important we are informed by our own specific requirements and environments.

Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure group manager Stavros Michael. Photo / Stephen Parker
Rotorua Lakes Council infrastructure group manager Stavros Michael. Photo / Stephen Parker

" 'Safe and appropriate' needs to take various factors into consideration including the operating environment (ie, rural open road, or residential area, school areas or business district with high pedestrian presence) and assessing actual speeds.

"Where actual speed is significantly higher than current or intended limits, we need to undertake engineering work to slow traffic and this could involve works like road narrowing speed humps or kerb extensions."

Michael said there would be a review of Rotorua's CBD in the next six months and 30km/h was now often considered to be the most appropriate speed limit for a CBD.

"This is something we will need to consider.

"Alongside the CBD review we will also be undertaking reviews of other areas, especially around schools."

But speed was just one factor in safety, he said, with vehicle condition, driver or pedestrian error, or inattention to the road condition also contributing to danger on our roads.

"Council also undertakes a variety of road safety initiatives including programmes in schools, driver workshops and awareness campaigns, often in partnership with other agencies such as the police."

Save

    Share this article

    Reminder, this is a Premium article and requires a subscription to read.

Latest from New Zealand

New Zealand

'No water use': Faulty meters spark billing chaos for Watercare customers

25 Jun 08:54 AM
CrimeUpdated

Man sentenced to 19 months’ prison for punching woman's teeth through cheek, inciting suicide

25 Jun 08:00 AM
New Zealand

Why top Auckland schools are tightening enrolment rules

25 Jun 07:52 AM

Kaibosh gets a clean-energy boost in the fight against food waste

sponsored
Advertisement
Advertise with NZME.

Latest from New Zealand

'No water use': Faulty meters spark billing chaos for Watercare customers

'No water use': Faulty meters spark billing chaos for Watercare customers

25 Jun 08:54 AM

Watercare offered manual readings and payment options to affected customers.

Man sentenced to 19 months’ prison for punching woman's teeth through cheek, inciting suicide

Man sentenced to 19 months’ prison for punching woman's teeth through cheek, inciting suicide

25 Jun 08:00 AM
Why top Auckland schools are tightening enrolment rules

Why top Auckland schools are tightening enrolment rules

25 Jun 07:52 AM
Tama Potaka seeks review of Māori roll ad featuring Tāme Iti

Tama Potaka seeks review of Māori roll ad featuring Tāme Iti

25 Jun 07:16 AM
Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style
sponsored

Engage and explore one of the most remote places on Earth in comfort and style

NZ Herald
  • About NZ Herald
  • Meet the journalists
  • Newsletters
  • Classifieds
  • Help & support
  • Contact us
  • House rules
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms of use
  • Competition terms & conditions
  • Our use of AI
Subscriber Services
  • NZ Herald e-editions
  • Daily puzzles & quizzes
  • Manage your digital subscription
  • Manage your print subscription
  • Subscribe to the NZ Herald newspaper
  • Subscribe to Herald Premium
  • Gift a subscription
  • Subscriber FAQs
  • Subscription terms & conditions
  • Promotions and subscriber benefits
NZME Network
  • The New Zealand Herald
  • The Northland Age
  • The Northern Advocate
  • Waikato Herald
  • Bay of Plenty Times
  • Rotorua Daily Post
  • Hawke's Bay Today
  • Whanganui Chronicle
  • Viva
  • NZ Listener
  • Newstalk ZB
  • BusinessDesk
  • OneRoof
  • Driven Car Guide
  • iHeart Radio
  • Restaurant Hub
NZME
  • About NZME
  • NZME careers
  • Advertise with NZME
  • Digital self-service advertising
  • Book your classified ad
  • Photo sales
  • NZME Events
  • © Copyright 2025 NZME Publishing Limited
TOP