A raft of speed reduction measures across New Zealand’s state highway network have been released by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency for public consultation.
The Interim State Highway Speed Management Plan is part of the Government’s Road to Zero campaign which aims for zero road deaths and serious injuries by 2050 and a 40% reduction target of deaths and serious injuries by 2030.
All road controlling authorities are adopting the new approach to speed management with Waka Kotahi as the road controlling authority for the country’s state highways, while councils and Auckland Transport are the road controlling authorities for local roads.
Waka Kotahi programme and standards national manager Vanessa Browne says safety is at the heart of the plan which recognises the diverse ways people use state highways.
“Good speed management is a fundamental pillar of the ‘safe system’ approach to road safety, which is recognised internationally as the most effective way to reduce deaths and serious injuries.
“At the same time as we develop the speed management plan, Waka Kotahi is also delivering large programmes of work as part of Road to Zero to support the other safe system pillars – safer roads and roadsides, safer vehicles and safe road user behaviour,” Browne says.
During the current three-year National Land Transport Programme (NLTP) funding period, $2.9 billion is being invested in Road to Zero activities to reduce deaths and serious injuries across New Zealand.
The record investment is enabling a range of infrastructure safety improvements such as the installation of median and roadside barriers, the construction of new roundabouts, intersection safety upgrades and safety improvements to high-risk road corridors, in addition to the introduction of safer speed limits as well as targeted police enforcement of unsafe driving.
Browne says the speed management plans being developed by Waka Kotahi and local authorities will be aligned with the delivery of the infrastructure safety improvements set out in the NLTP.
The plan brings together Waka Kotahi’s remaining speed-management activities being delivered through the current 2021-24 NLTP, including new speed limits on some sections of state highway, putting in place more intersection speed zones and lowering speeds around many schools and some marae on state highways.
Public feedback will be considered by Waka Kotahi alongside its own analysis before finalising the plan. Once the plan is approved, the speed management activities and other safety improvements will be delivered over the following two years through to mid-2024, and by the end of 2027 for schools.
A ‘quick-fix attempt’
National Party transport spokesperson Simeon Brown is slamming the proposed plan and says the Government is failing to invest in roads.
“This Government simply cannot deliver. Labour’s plan is to slow New Zealanders down, rather than invest in our roads to make sure they’re safe to drive on.
“Labour won’t stop until they have slashed the speed limits on almost every state highway in the country to a maximum of 80km/h.
“This is a short-sighted, quick-fix attempt to address the problem of road safety. It is overly simplistic and doesn’t deal with the underlying issues.
“Kiwis need both safe and efficient transport routes, especially for the freight companies and rural communities that help move our goods around New Zealand and get them to market.
“Reducing speed limits across the board is not the answer. This will simply increase travel times and make our rural communities more isolated.
“Some state highways are going from 100 km/h to 60 km/h.
“It’s not good enough for the Government to reduce speed limits rather than getting the basics right by addressing the appalling condition of our state highways which have become peppered with potholes.
“National opposes blanket speed limit reductions. The Government’s priority should be to maintain our highways to a safe standard and to ensure that the road rules are being appropriately enforced,” Brown says.
Consultation on the interim plan is open for four weeks from November 14 to December 12.
*Click here for more information and to submit feedback on the plan.
