The Government has revealed speed limits on 38 sections of the state highway network will increase, while it will consult on potentially lifting the limits on a further 49 sections.
The first increase – on part of State Highway 2 in Wairarapa – will come into force tonight.
Prime Minister Christopher Luxon and Transport Minister Chris Bishop unveiled consultation plans for significant parts of the state highway network this morning, while other stretches of road will see speeds rise without a new round of feedback.
Bishop also revealed plans for speed limits to rise tonight on part of SH2 in Wairarapa, which will see a lower limit instituted under the previous government rolled back.
“National campaigned on reversing the blanket speed limit reductions at the last election, and over 65% of submitters during consultation on the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024 agreed,” Bishop said.
“Reversing the speed limit reductions where safe to do so is also part of the National-ACT coalition agreement.
“Where Labour was about slowing New Zealand down, the coalition Government is all about making it easier for people and freight to get from A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible, which will help drive economic growth and improved productivity.”
That’s the warning from experts just as the Transport Minister’s set to raise some speed limits nationwide in a matter of weeks. (Source: 1News)
According to the Government, 38 sections of state highway will have speed limits reversed to their previous higher limits automatically over the next five months without new consultation.
A further 49 sections of state highway will undergo public consultation from tomorrow, running for six weeks, to determine whether speeds should return to previous limits.
Bishop said, “local communities can have their say on keeping their current lower speed limit or returning to the previous higher speed” during the consultation.
Speed limit changes planned by the Government are intended to be fully in place by July, including across the state highway network, controlled by NZTA, and on local council roads.
SH2 change
Tonight’s speed limit change will take place on State Highway 2 between Featherston and Masterton. The speed on the road will rise from 80km/h to 100km/h.
Bishop said the automatic changes, happening over the next five months, would be incorporated into planned maintenance and project works.
Councils, which control local streets and most arterial roads, will have until May to advise NZTA of the roads where speed limits will rise.
The new rule for setting speeds will require limits that have previously been reduced in urban areas to be reversed, except where the reduced speed limits are on main streets in town centres and approaching school gates during pick up and drop off times.
There would also be an exception for “targeted areas where there is strong evidence to support the reduced speed.”
As part of the National-ACT coalition agreement, the new rule will require variable speed limits around schools during pick-up and drop-off times and enable 110km/h speed limits on new and existing Roads of National Significance.
National campaigned on the speed limit changes during the election.
A number of road safety experts have spoken out against the Government’s moves, saying more people will be killed or seriously injured as a result.
Opposition parties slam move
Reacting to today’s announcement, Labour transport spokesperson Tangi Utikere said the Government was making changes “based on a campaign promise, rather than evidence”.
“I would like to see the evidence that it is safe to raise speed limits on these roads, not the National Party opinion that it is,” he said in a media release.
“It is an absolute tragedy that we go into every long weekend expecting a road toll. It should not be normal for Kiwis to lose loved ones to people driving too fast.
“While we do not oppose travelling at faster speeds on roads where it is safe to do so, I do remain concerned about the potential for more deaths on the roads as a result of these changes.”
Green Party transport spokesperson Julie Anne Genter said raising speed limits on several undivided rural roads was a dangerous move.
“The laws of physics aren’t a matter of popular opinion. The faster the speed, the bigger the mess. The evidence is overwhelming: safe speeds save lives,” she said.
“Countries with the lowest deaths and serious injuries have 70 or 80 kph speed limits maximum on rural undivided highways.”
Meanwhile, coalition partner ACT said the move was a “triumph for common sense,” sledging speed reductions which happened under the previous government as “anti-car”.
“Sensible speed limits are a triumph for common sense and democracy. Instead of being dictated to by a faceless bureaucratic minority, the people are in charge again,” said the party’s leader David Seymour.
He said, “the previous government’s traffic engineering was thinly disguised social engineering that just made people mad”.
“The last government had an anti-car, anti-speed ideology. They didn’t care if they made life less convenient for the vast majority who drive to get around, in fact they seemed to relish slowing people down.”
