There will be a greater variation of speed limits on both open and urban roads under a New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) ‘safer speeds’ initiative.
The policy – aimed at introducing fit-for-purpose speed limits for specific roads, rather than the traditional one-speed-fits-all approach – will see some well-engineered highways and motorways' speed limits increased to 110km/h.
On the other hand, a number of city streets with high volumes of cyclists and pedestrians are likely to have their limits dropped to 30km/h.
According to NZTA safety manager Helen Climo, speaking at the New Zealand Traffic Institute’s annual conference yesterday, the purpose of the exercise is to create greater country-wide consistency and speed limits more appropriate to roads’ design and function.
The ultimate goal of the plan by the multi-agency National Road Safety Committee, which includes ACC and police, is a reduction in deaths and serious injuries and an increase in economic productivity.
NZTA intends to provide local councils with draft guidelines on suitable speed limits by Christmas, Ms Climo said.
This is a parallel initiative to the work being done by the Road Efficiency Group (or REG), which NBR reported on two weeks ago.
Focused on investment for outcomes in order to drive efficiencies and deliver better customer service in the roading sector, REG’s road classification work will be informed by these NZTA guidelines.
“There are a number of things the classification will use in the future that basically don’t exist yet,” says REG project director Paul Glucina, “so it’s been set up to be responsive to things like this that are in train.”
Nick Grant
Wed, 17 Sep 2014
Wed, 17 Sep 2014
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Need for speed shifts signalled
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