Transport authorities have denied that local councils were required to reduce the default urban speed limit from 50km/h to 40km/h, despite assertions from some locally elected members to the contrary.

Social media was abuzz last week when 40km/h speed signs replaced the 50km/h signs throughout urban Wanaka and Albert Town, with many people asking why it had happened and where the evidence was to support the claim the lower speed limit would improve safety. 

In reply to the social media comments, Queenstown Lakes District Councillor (QLDC) Quentin Smith and Wanaka Community Board member Chris Hadfield asserted that the council’s hands were tied by the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) which “required” the QLDC, as a road controlling authority (RCA), to reduce the default urban speed limit to 40km/h.

The Wanaka App asked the NZTA to verify this and NZTA national media manager Andy Knackstedt said the agency had not directed RCAs to reduce urban speed limits to 40km/h limit. 

In fact, the land transport rules regarding the responsibilities of RCAs when setting speed limits is clearly outlined in section three, which were reviewed in 2017. They state the default urban speed limit in New Zealand is 50 km/h and applies to any road within an urban traffic area.

They also state that councils (as RCAs) are permitted to designate different speed limits for “a road” within an urban area. For example, speed limits near schools have been reduced and limits on arterial roads, such as Aubrey Road (60km/h) and Golf Course Road (70km/h), have been increased above the default.

When asked about the source of his statement that “council is only doing what is required of us by the transport authority”, Quentin referred the Wanaka App to an 2016 NZTA guide on safety and speed management.

This guide said it is underpinned by the principles that speed limits must be evidence based and nationally consistent, therefore “wholesale changes to speed limits are not expected” and “for many roads no change to travel speed or speed limits will be needed.

“It is for those corridors where current travel speeds or speed limits may be too low or too high that changes should be made."

The change in the default urban speed limit was signalled last year when the QLDC adopted the Speed Limits Bylaw 2019 after a review of the 2009 version and a public hearing. The review attracted 357 public submissions - the majority of which were against most of the proposed changes, including the wholesale speed reduction to 40km/h.

Many submitters said they were against the reduced speed limit because there was no evidence presented which confirmed the 50km/h speed limit in this district’s urban areas was inherently dangerous. 

Roading engineer and Wanaka local Mark Gordon made a submission to last year’s hearing saying while speed reductions around schools, for instance, might improve road safety, a widespread improvement in safety for all road users will not be achieved by decreased speed limits alone. 

When interviewed last year Mark told the Wanaka App “road safety is about more than speed”. He said he was yet to be convinced a blanket 40kmh speed limit is supported by local crash statistics. “Do we have a township that is inherently unsafe compared with any other town in New Zealand?”

He said he also wanted the QLDC to publish the past five years of local accident information to establish the trend. The crash data could be reviewed annually and then council will be able to measure how effective the blanket speed reduction is.

Speed limits throughout the rest of the district, including Lake Hāwea, Luggate and Cardrona, are scheduled to change this week. 

PHOTO: Wanaka App