Speed Limit Change ‘Disappointing'
A decision to restore a 100kph speed limit on State Highway 1, south of Woodend, is being labelled ''disappointing'' by one Waimakariri councillor.
Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency has announced it will reverse its 2020 decision to lower the speed limit to 80kph on the 3.17km stretch of road between Woodend and Cam River, near Kaiapoi, following public consultation.
Around 49 percent of the 2327 submissions supported retaining the 80kph speed limit, while 50% wanted it restored to 100kph and 1% were neutral.
But councillor Philip Redmond, the council's roading portfolio holder, said any decision should be based on the merits of submissions rather than being ''a numbers game''.
The Waimakariri District Council submitted against restoring the 100kph speed limit, citing safety concerns.
''The outcome is disappointing and it is not the outcome I was expecting.
''When we, as a council, are dealing with submissions, it is not a numbers game.
''We look at the submissions people are making and we look at the merits.''
Cr Redmond said it would have made sense to defer the speed limit review until the Woodend Bypass has been build.
''We will be having a look to see if there are any other options to support our position.
''Myself and most of my colleagues are not keen on blanket speed reductions, but we were unanimous at leaving this speed limit alone.
''It (80kph) is an appropriate speed for safety reasons, but maybe it could be reviewed when the bypass is built.''
The Government consulted on several speed limits around the country after introducing new rules to reverse blanket speed limit reductions.
Following consultation, speed limits on one section of road in Southland and five in the North Island will remain the same, while 43 speed limit reductions will be reversed.
A further 38 sections of state highway had already been identified for auto-reversal, while 16 speed limits are still subject to further consultation, including SH1 through the Rakaia township.
An NZTA spokesperson said the new speed limits will be in place by July 1.
The new Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2024 required NZTA to specifically measure levels of public support through the consultation when making its final decision.
While the council's submission did not receive any extra weighting, information gathered from iwi, councils and those with particular experience or insights will help inform future speed limit reviews, the spokesperson said.
''It will also feed into the variable speed limits implementation outside school gates, which has just started.''
The speed limit on SH1 between Cam River and Woodend was lowered from 100kph to 80kph in December 2020.
NZTA data shows there were 82 crashes on SH1 between Cam River and Woodend in the 10 years to December 2020, including 10 serious crashes, resulting in 15 serious injuries and two deaths.
Since the 80kph speed limit was introduced, there have been 35 crashes, including four serious crashes, resulting in five serious injuries, but no deaths. The variable speed limit of 60kph at the Pine Acres intersection, north of Kaiapoi, where the bulk of crashes occurred, will remain in place.
LDR is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Scoop
10 hours ago
- Scoop
‘Quiet Street' To Become Permanent SH1 Through Picton
Article – Kira Carrington – Local Democracy Reporter A resident who describes the decision as 'pretty horrible' is concerned about a nearby school. By , Local Democracy reporter Picton's Kent St is to become the new State Highway 1, to the surprise of some of its residents. New Zealand Transport Agency / Waka Kotahi has announced that Kent St, which has been a 'de facto state highway' during ferry terminal works since 2023, will officially become SH1, with some improvements to suit. The route bypasses the Nelson Square roundabout and central Picton, taking a more direct route towards the ferry terminal. Kent St resident Pam Wharehoka, who has lived on the street since 1982, said it 'used to be a quiet street'. 'Hardly anyone came down [here], kids used to ride their bikes down here. [That] can't happen any more.' When the terminal works started and all the trucks started coming down the street, the children welcomed it, she said. 'The kids used to stand out there and [wave], and the drivers would give them a toot.' The Interislander ferry terminal moved to Lagoon Rd in 2023, as part of wider works for the now-canned iReX ferry project to accommodate new, larger ferries. NZTA regional manager of system design Richard Osborne said that ever since, all traffic accessing the ferry terminals had been going down Kent St. 'Kent St has been acting as the de facto state highway. This is one of the key aspects the Picton Road Network Improvements Project wants to address,' Osborne said. He said NZTA was obliged to send a Notice of Requirement to the Marlborough District Council to commandeer the council-owned road. The road would be maintained by Marlborough Roads, which was responsible for both council-owned roads and NZTA state highways. Kent St resident Sue Letchford said the announcement was a long time coming. 'Well, it's been coming for years, but it's still pretty horrible,' Letchford said. She was worried about the safety of students from Picton School, which backed onto Kent St. NZTA said it would work with the Marlborough District Council to install a variable speed limit by the school, with a lower speed limit in place during peak school time. Picton School declined to comment on the changes. Letchford said she was pleased that the roads would be upgraded to support the increase in traffic. 'Kent St is all right, but Oxford St gets ripped out … constantly.' Kent St residents had previously complained that the increase in trucks was noisy and 'smashing up' the road, which required 'major reconstruction'. Kent St resident Linda Andrell said the sounds of the trucks were just white noise to her. 'I've been here a few years now so I don't even [hear it]. Maybe at about 10 o'clock at night you might notice it.' Dean Humphrey said the news was 'good and bad'. 'We're talking about the [street] parking here … We're going to be up at the library and have a talk to them about it,' Humphrey said, referring to drop-in sessions planned for next week. The sessions will be held at Picton Library and Service Centre Waitohi Whare Mātauranga on 17-18 June. Work on the planned upgrades will start mid-next year.
1News
5 days ago
- 1News
Nationwide public transport card delayed again, minister 'concerned'
Transport Minister Chris Bishop has urged officials to get "back on track" as fresh delays hit the roll-out of NZTA's new national public transport ticketing system. The Motu Move system was supposed to launch in Timaru and Temuka by mid-2025, but has since been delayed due to "challenges with delivery". Transport officials didn't provide an updated date for when the new card would actually launch, when queried this week. It's the third missed launch target the project has faced in the past nine months. The setback comes as an independent review has been launched into the National Ticketing Solution (NTS) by the programme's governance group. ADVERTISEMENT Bishop told 1News he met with the group to "stress" the significant sums being spent and to encourage them "to exercise leadership to get the project back on track". Chris Bishop said he wants the governance group to "exercise leadership". (file image). (Source: Getty) A spokesperson for NZTA said: "Work is underway to understand the options with a revised delivery plan for Canterbury expected to be confirmed in the next few months. "The National Ticketing Solution team is also working on a revised regional roll-out plan and timeline for the rest of the country. This is expected to be confirmed in August." The NTS project will replace all transit cards used on buses, trains and ferries around the country with a single national card, which will be branded under "Motu Move". It will include the phasing out of several existing payment methods, including Snapper in Wellington, Metrocard in Christchurch and Bee cards. The project has cost $146 million since 2018, according to figures up until December and released to the Taxpayers Union. NTS has been budgeted to cost $1.3 billion over 15 years. ADVERTISEMENT An initial December 2024 launch date in Timaru and Temuka - a smaller region with relatively limited public transport services - was pushed to early this year and then mid-2025. A January launch date for Greater Christchurch was also delayed to September. It follows a tortured multi-year process to develop the national smartcard system, which includes the ability to pay with contactless debit cards and smartphones. Kiwis will have the option of paying for public transport with their debit or credit card, or digital payment method. (Source: 1News) Bishop said he was "concerned" about the programme and "delays to rolling it out". "I have recently met with the National Ticketing Solution governance group to stress the significant investment the Government is making in the project, and to encourage them to exercise leadership to get the project back on track," he said in a statement. "The group has commissioned an independent review into the project to identify opportunities for improvement in the programme, and I expect to receive a copy of its findings in July, along with a plan to deliver the project." 'Alternative delivery approach' being considered ADVERTISEMENT In December, a "pilot" of the system was deployed on one bus line in Christchurch, which allowed people to use contactless cards to tap on if they were paying adult fares. The pilot hasn't included the wide distribution or use of Motu Move cards. An NZTA spokesperson said findings from the pilot would be used to potentially roll out "features" of the new system sooner in "phases". "The NTS programme team has been exploring alternative delivery approaches for Canterbury to implement Motu Move features in phases, building on the success of the contactless payments pilot on the route 29 bus." A Motu Move card reader. (Source: Supplied) They said the independent review of the programme was "expected to be completed with a final report presented to the NTS governance board at the end of July". The most recent delay follows a long development process for the smartcard system, which has been put together by NZTA in various forms since 2009. Subsequent developments have seen a litany of delays and posited launch dates scrapped. In March, Bishop was briefed that US system supplier Cubic was bringing in "additional capacity" to "accelerate progress" on the project after the first set of recent delays. ADVERTISEMENT Release one testing of the system was expected to be finished in early May, the Transport Minister was told at the time. Meanwhile, a review carried out on the NTS project in October found "significant issues already exist requiring management attention", according to a brief summary provided by NZTA. The agency refused to release a full copy of the report to 1News. The review came shortly before the roll-out was first delayed from its December target. It also concluded the programme was "well governed, led and resourced" and that the significant issues were "viewed as resolvable at the time of the review".
Scoop
6 days ago
- Scoop
Farmers Risk Being Cut Off As Bridge Funding Dries Up
Article – David Hill – Local Democracy Reporter Waka Kotahi has announced it will not extend a 30 June sunset clause or offer additional funding for a replacement for a quake damaged bridge at the Waiau Toa Clarence River. Clarence Valley farmers have been left high and dry following a decision not to extend a funding deadline for replacing a quake-damaged bridge north of Kaikōura. Waka Kotahi – the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) – has informed the Kaikōura District Council it will not extend the 30 June sunset clause or offering additional funding for a replacement for the Glen Alton Bridge on Waiau Toa Clarence River, which was destroyed in the 7.8 magnitude earthquake in 2016. Property owners now face an uncertain future, without year-round, all weather access to the valley. Steve and Shirley Millard have been farming in the valley for 13 years, with Mrs Millard commuting to work in Kaikōura. 'It should have been done way before now,' Steve said. 'They said they are looking at other options, but I can't see many.' The Clarence Valley is home to several properties, including forestry blocks, large hill country properties and Department of Conservation land. For now access in and out is via Waipapa Road, Wharekiri Stream and a paper road through several properties. But the Wharekiri Stream is prone to flooding in heavy rain events and can be impassable for up to two weeks. Access is by four-wheel-drive only. Kaikōura District Council chief executive Will Doughty said NZTA's decision is a major setback and left the council with few options. 'The project has had a number of complex issues and stakeholder challenges that, despite best efforts, council has not been able to fully overcome.' The NZTA board approved emergency works funding of $12.6 million from the National Land Transport Programme in 2019 to replace bridge – a 95 percent subsidy, but the project has been beset by challenges. The council initially applied to Environment Canterbury (ECan) for a resource consent to build a $13.5m bridge, 500 metres upstream from the previous bridge. But this was opposed by Te Rūnanga o Kaikōura on cultural grounds. Last year, the council asked its contractor, Contract Structures Ltd, to provide a cost estimate for building a bridge at the original site. Going to the original site will require the council to acquire land for an access road to the new bridge, a process expected to take up to 18 month. The council will leave the local share funding of around $500,000 in the 2025/26 annual plan budget while the next steps are considered, Doughty said. NZTA regional manager central and lower South Island Peter Brown said the agency advised the council in December its application for an extension would likely be declined unless it could provide evidence by 28 February the challenges it faced could be overcome. 'Despite some progress being made on key issues, there remained significant ongoing risks and a lack of a clear path forward.' The NZTA board met last month and declined an extension and a funding increase to $16.5m. 'We understand there will be disappointment over this decision for Clarence Valley residents,' Brown said. 'The prolonged delays and unresolved issues make continued investment in this project untenable.' Brown said NZTA will continue to work with the council to explore what options are available.
