Petition to cut Okere Falls speed

A petition which aims to reduce the speed limit at Okere Falls is officially under way.
Two truck crashes on the same day on the same stretch of road last month had residents demanding a change to the speed limit in the Okere Falls area from 70km to 50km.
Last month a logging truck rolled on State Highway 33 near the Okere Falls Store and opposite the Kaituna River, followed by another truck crash only a few hours later - just 200m from where the first one happened. Residents said truck drivers drove too fast and crashes were occurring too often.
Longtime resident Denise Martin was there on the day of the crashes and was determined to get the speed limit changed. Ms Martin and other residents had got together to discuss putting together a petition. They had now sent a letter to the New Zealand Transport Agency and a petition was at the Okere Falls Store.
Ms Martin hoped to collect a few hundred signatures which would then be sent to the agency to back up their argument.
She said she had spoken to a number of people in the community to try and drum up as much support as possible.
Ms Martin said she had been door knocking and had spoken to local businesses and Whangamarino School. She said staff at the school, and a number of other residents, had tried to get something done about the speed before but nothing had ever happened.