Te Moana a Toi-te-Huatahi – Bay of Plenty

We reviewed 3 ‘urban connector’ state highway locations in Rotorua, Bay of Plenty including consulting between 2 April – 14 May 2025, as part of a proposal to reconfirm lower speeds.

Background 

Under the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024 (the Rule), specified sections of state highway, categorised as urban connectors with lowered speed limits, are required to automatically reverse to their previous higher speed limit by 1 July 2025.

NZTA has received feedback on some urban connectors, including 3 in Rotorua, where the community strongly supported keeping current lower speed limits.

Changing speed limits is a legal process. The Rule allows NZTA to set speed limits for roads under its control where there is alignment with the intent and requirements of the Rule.

After careful consideration, NZTA undertook new formal reviews of speed limits on these 3 sections of road. The speed reviews included consultation, and considered safety, technical, cost benefit and other data, alongside community feedback to determine if we should reconfirm the lower speed limit, as proposed.

More information on speed reduction reversals

Speed review outcome  

SH5 South Rotorua

From north of the SH5/SH30 roundabout to south of the SH5/SH30 Old Taupō Road/Hemo Road roundabout.

The Director of Land Transport has approved a lower speed limit of 50km/h.  We will reset this speed limit on this section to 50km/h rather than implementing the reversal to 80km/h as was required under the Speed Rule on this 0.5km section of state highway.

SH30A

From west of SH30/SH30A intersection to the SH30/SH30A intersection (0.15km).

The Director of Land Transport has approved a lower speed limit of 60km/h to provide consistency with speeds in the area. We will reset this speed limit on this section to 60km/h rather than implementing the reversal to 70km/h as was required under the Speed Rule on this 0.15km section of state highway.

The speed limit consulted on was 50km/h but this has been set at 60km/h to provide consistency along Te Ngae Road and it means there is not a short section of 50km/h through the intersection. It was noted that the intersection is controlled through traffic signals.

SH30 Whakarewarewa to Tihiotonga 

From south of Meade Street to east of Fenton Street (.55km).

The Director of Land Transport has approved a lower speed limit of 50km/h to provide consistency with speed limits in the area. We will reset this speed limit on this section to 50km/h rather than implementing the reversal to 60km/h as was required under the Speed Rule on this section of state highway.

SH30 Whakarewarewa to Tihiotonga

From south of Scott Street to the SH30/SH30A intersection (0.6km).

The Director of Land Transport has approved a lower speed limit of 50km/h along Sala Street and up to the intersection with Te Ngae Road.  We will reset this speed limit on this section to 50km/h rather than implementing the reversal to 70km/h as was required under the Speed Rule on this section of state highway.

SH30

From SH30/SH30A intersection northeast of Tarawera Road (0.9km).

The speed limit from Te Ngae Road up to the existing 60km/h speed limit change point is to be set to 60km/h rather than reversing to 70km/h. This means Te Ngae Road speed limit will now align with the improved roading environment and provides a consistent journey experience at 60km/h. It is noted access to the Ambulance Hub is traffic signal controlled.

Approved speed limits

The following speed limits have been approved by the Director of Land Transport.

Approved speed limits map – Rotorua

View larger map [PDF, 471 KB]

Consultation information

After the 6-week consultation period, we received 819 submissions across 3 sections of roads on the proposed changes in Bay of Plenty.

• SH5 South Rotorua received 381 submissions. Key stakeholders were very supportive of retaining the lower speed limit. It was noted a speed limit of 80km/h may encourage more drivers to approach the roundabout at the higher speed, and that many of the crashes occurring in that area were due to speed. 51% of the submissions received from the general public (noting a fairly low response) thought negatively about having lower speed limits, citing time and driver frustration.
  
  
• SH30 and SH30A Whakarewarewa to Tihiotonga received 438 submissions. Key stakeholders were strongly in support of retaining the lower speed limits, noting that reverting to higher speed limits will create confusion for motorists, make the intersection less safe. It was also noted Te Puia is visited by thousands of international visitors and used by cyclists and pedestrians and there is no associated safety infrastructure in place for these vulnerable road users. 58% of submissions received from the general public thought negatively about retaining the lower speed limits, citing time and driver frustration. There were, however, comments received from the public saying that the lower speed limit was more appropriate and safer on this section of road noting the presence of bus stops on route, Toi Ohomai Institute of Technology, Old Taupō Road/Hemo Road roundabout and Whakarewarewa Forest.

Bay of Plenty consultation summary report [PDF, 2.1 MB]

View the SH5 South Rotorua Cost Benefit Disclosure Statement 80 to 50 [PDF, 161 KB]

View the SH30 Whakarewarewa to Tihiotonga Cost Benefit Disclosure Statement 60 to 50 [PDF, 157 KB]

View the SH30 Whakarewarewa to Tihiotonga Cost Benefit Disclosure Statement 70 to 50 [PDF, 157 KB]

View the SH30 Whakarewarewa to Tihiotonga Cost Benefit Disclosure Statement 80 to 50 [PDF, 162 KB]

View the SH30A Rotorua Cost Benefit Disclosure Statement 70 to 50 [PDF, 159 KB]