Auckland Transport (AT) will soon start investigating the speed limits of the next group of “high-risk roads across the region” following the introduction of the Speed Limits Bylaw.
Investigations for the second stage of AT’s Safe Speeds programme were given the green light by the AT board of directors at their December 2020 meeting.
Stage two work streams include:
- Rural roads
- Town centres
- Residential areas
- Urban roads
- Marae
- Schools
- Requested roads (from members of the public, stakeholders and elected members)
- Complementary speeds (i.e. this stream focuses on speed limit reviews in areas where recent changes in infrastructure would be better served by speed limit reviews)
- 70km/h roads (i.e. Tranche two of the Safe Speeds programme will look into changing speed limits on about 50 to 70 individual roads across the region. Under current legislation Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency (as the national regulator) wants to phase out 70km/h speed limits on all roads across New Zealand. The reasons are outlined in Table 2.4 Interim speed limits, page 21 of the NZ Speed Management Guide First Edition, November 2016.
The initiative is part of AT’s adopted Vison Zero Strategy which states that there will be no deaths or serious injuries on the transport system by 2050.
The first stage of Auckland’s high-risk roads were consulted on between February and March 2019 and were included within the Speed Limits Bylaw 2019.
The safe new speed limits outlined within the bylaw have already been implemented, or are due to be implemented till June 2021.
AT executive general manager of safety Bryan Sherritt says speed management is about achieving safe and appropriate speeds that reflect road function and design.
“We need people and goods to move efficiently around our transport network, but we need to see a reduction in deaths and serious injuries.”
Sherritt says the first consultation had very strong engagement with Aucklanders.
“In total we received 11,719 submissions. This was Auckland Transport’s most successful consultation. Just as important, has been the transparency we provided about how we considered the feedback and made changes to the bylaw that was approved by the AT board.
“No other region in New Zealand has implemented speed limit changes on this scale before. Stage two builds on the lessons learnt during stage one, where it was identified that there would be greater benefit in engaging with decision-makers more regularly to ensure they are included throughout the journey.
“Key decision makers have been involved early to fully understand the process. This aims to save significant time and rework later,” Sherritt says.
Consultation will be carried out in a two-stage approach and more details will be provided as AT prepares its investigations.
