Revealed: The Auckland roads set to get lower speed limits

27/02/2019
Katie Fitzgerald

Auckland Transport has revealed the roads where speed limits are set to be slashed in the name of safety.

The council-controlled organisation announced it was considering lowering the speed limits in 2018, saying an emphasis should be put on cars travelling at "survivable" speeds.

"Survivable speeds are speeds at which a person walking or on a cycle is likely to survive a direct impact crash," CEO Shane Ellison said at the time.

"If you are directly hit by a vehicle travelling at 30km/h, the probability of death is around 10 per cent. If you are hit directly at 40km/h, the probability of death jumps to 32 per cent and if directly hit at 50km/h, the probability of death goes up to 80 per cent."

Under the new plan large swathes of the city centre will be dropping to 30km/h, including major roads like Hobson St, Customs St and Nelson St.

Some roads outside the central city in urban areas such as Te Atatu, Pukekohe and Mairangi Bay will also see speed limits drop.

Other speed limits will drop too, the Te Wero Bridge on Wynyard Quarter will see a new speed limit of 10km/h and some roads outside the urban areas, such as the Coatesville-Riverhead Highway, will drop to 60km/h.

The plan is currently open for consultation and if it goes ahead, the speed limits will be implemented in June.

It's has angered Dog and Lemon Guide writer and road safety advocate Clive Matthew-Wilson, who said it was a thinly veiled move to force people onto public transport.

"This is being driven about 30 percent for safety and 70 percent is an attempt to drive people onto the Western world's most dysfunctional public transport system."

An Auckland Transport spokesperson denied the claim and said it was all about safety.

"Approximately 90 percent of the total area AT wants to reduce the speeds in are rural roads. These are areas which probably don't have public transport."

Mr Matthew-Wilson also angrily pointed out Lime scooters, which have been found to have safety defects, were allowed on the pavements along with other e-scooters.

"Some of the e-scooters that are currently legally going down Auckland's footpaths will be going faster than the traffic that's sitting next to it."

Auckland Council opted to temporarily suspend Lime's trial licence to operate on Friday due to concerns about the scooters safety.

Mayor Phil Goff looked into putting a speed limit in place for the scooters in November 2018, suggesting around 10km/h.

"The first thing I think is a matter of common sense is, you might be able physically to ride the scooter at 25km/h on the footpath - but that is just not on," he said.

"I think there has to be a speed limit and we are looking at the initial idea of a speed limit of around 10km/h, but we will listen to public feedback on that."

Mr Goff later asked Ministry of Transport Phil Twyford to look into placing a speed limit on scooters, and the Government confirmed it was looking into it in January, Stuff reports.

The Automobile Association called for "compromise" on the speed limits, saying such large drops would be hard to enforce.

"For this to succeed, AT needs public buy-in. Without it, AT risks ending up with low compliance, high public frustration, and a future situation where speed limit changes become a no-go zone politically."

Road safety charity Brake New Zealand welcomed the proposal for the lower speeds when it was initially proposed in September 2018.

"We know fears about fast traffic prevent many adults and children from reaping the benefits of cycling and walking, so support measures such as this which both improve safety and encourage active travel," director Caroline Perry said in a statement.

Newshub.