If you live in Motueka or drive, bike or walk along Motueka’s High St (SH60), Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency wants to know what you think about the speed limit.
Public consultation opens today (Monday, 11 October) on proposed changes to speed limits along this stretch of road.
“Making sure speed limits are safe and appropriate for the road and its surroundings is one of the most effective things we can do to help prevent people dying or being seriously injured on our state highways,” says Waka Kotahi Director Regional Relationships Emma Speight.
“No matter what causes a crash, speed is always a factor in the severity. Put simply, the speed of impact can be the difference between walking away or being carried away from a crash.”
High Street Motueka is a busy road with lots of people driving, walking and cycling through the area. It includes the town centre for Motueka, and a number of schools, houses and businesses along the way.
High Street is also used by people and freight carriers as a through-road to get to other parts of the Tasman, West Coast and Nelson regions.
“The mix of people walking and cycling and different vehicle types in this urban environment can create safety issues for everyone. Ensuring safer speed limits is a relatively simple way to help reduce those safety risks for everyone,” Ms Speight says.
This formal consultation follows earlier conversations with Tasman residents on what they thought about the current speed limits on High Street. The feedback received was considered along with technical assessments, to propose changes to the current speed limits.
“The new speed limits proposed, alongside the safety improvements currently underway - traffic signals and a new raised roundabout - would help make High Street safer for everyone, especially those walking or cycling within the busy town centre”, says Ms Speight.
“The consultation for the proposed speed limit changes is not a vote. It is about seeking valuable local and community input so that we can consider wider factors and context into our decisions. The question we ask during consultation is whether there are any external factors we should consider regarding the proposed speed limit changes.”
These factors could include: access ways to businesses and driveways to homes we may not considered within our technical assessment; unmarked bus stops where children are walking across the street; sections of the road where there are more vulnerable people (like children, elderly people, people on bikes).
Formal public consultation on the proposed changes to speed limits on SH60 High St Motueka will run from Monday, 11 October to Friday, 5 November 2021.
Find out more and make a submission on the SH60 Motueka safety improvements project page
The review of speed limits is part of Road to Zero, New Zealand’s road safety strategy. The strategy sets out the goal of reducing deaths and serious injuries on our roads by 40 percent over the next decade.
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High Street, Motueka (SH60) |
Current speed limit |
Proposed speed limit |
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Existing 50/100 change point 210m south of SH60 / Wharf Road roundabout to approximately 35m south of the Whakarewa Street intersection The School Zone is proposed to go from 55m south of Courtney Street to the existing school variable speed limit sign 40m south of Old Wharf Road |
50km/h with a 40km/h electronic variable school zone The School Zone currently goes from south of the Jack Inglis Friendship Hospital entrance to south of the SH60 / Old Wharf Road intersection |
50km/h with a 30km/h electronic variable school zone The School Zone is proposed to go from 55m south of Courtney Street to the existing school variable speed limit sign 40m south of Old Wharf Road This is an enforceable speed limit that can be activated during peak school times. The school zone speed limit may operate from 35 minutes before school until the start of school, and from 20 minutes at the end of school, beginning no earlier than 5 minutes before the end of school. It may also operate for 10 minutes at any other time when vehicles are entering or leaving school grounds or there is pedestrian or cycling activity on the road outside the school. When the school zone is active, the speed limit is 30km/h and will be displayed on an electronic sign. At all other times the speed limit is 50km/h. |
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35m south of the Whakarewa Street intersection to 85m south of the Poole Street intersection |
50km/h |
30km/h |
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85m south of the Poole Street intersection to the existing 80/50 change point 325m north of Parker Street |
50km/h |
50km/h (no change) |
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