1. Why are we looking at two separate zones, why not just have one joined up 30km/h zone?
Our focus for this programme is on shopping areas which have a higher density of pedestrians, vehicles and other road users such as cyclists. While there is a length of road of roughly 500m between the two zones, it does not have this higher density of different types of road users and so does not fit within the criteria for a reduced speed zone.
2. Why are we looking at the reduced speed zones now?
We’ve always intended to look at the Karori and Marsden Village shopping areas as part of our reduced speed zone programme. There are a number of improvement projects currently in development, and this is being considered in collaboration with that work.
3. Why just a speed limit reduction? Why aren’t other speed reducing initiatives being considered such as road layout improvements or speed bumps?
While there are other traffic calming options we may look at as part of the wider Karori improvements, a 30km/h speed limit is relatively quick and cost-effective to implement, and so is something we can get moving on right away.
4. What are the approximate costs to deliver the proposed speed reductions?
We estimate that it would be around $20-25k for Marsden Village and $30-40k for Karori shopping area.
5. Data from the other 30km/h zones already implemented show that while there are some decreases in average speed, it’s no-where near the 30km/h mark, so why are we continuing to progress this programme?
Our research shows that even a small reduction in speed has a large beneficial impact on the reduction of accidents and injuries. The 30km/h zones are deliberately small and focussed, drawing drivers’ attention to their speed in these higher density pedestrian/vehicle areas, and influencing them to slow down.
Analysis of before and after data for the first ten suburban centres where we introduced 30km/h showed injury crashes reduced by 82%, with a 57% reduction in the social cost of crashes of around $417,000 a year.
6. How was the response from earlier community consultations on speed limit reductions?
Earlier consultations were overwhelmingly positively received, with around 75% of all respondents across all the areas supporting the introduction of 30km/h zones.
7. What changes are happening to introduce speed limits outside schools?
The Ministry of Transport and NZTA are currently considering Rule changes being considered by central government. These changes will ultimately affect how road controlling authorities manage speed on their network in future. This will include mandating lower speed limits around schools to improve safety and enable more children to walk or cycle to school safely. The Ministry expect to be carrying out formal public consultation process on the draft Rule later this year.