Targeted approach to proposed rural Auckland speed reductions 'vital' for public buy-in
Monday, 25 March 2019
Auckland Transport needs to take a more targeted approach to proposed speed limit reductions in rural Auckland if it hopes to get buy-in from locals, says the AA.
This follows a rural Auckland survey of AA Members in Franklin east, Franklin west, Rodney east and Rodney southwest, which aimed to shed light on driver opinion towards speed limit changes that will affect around 700km of roads in these areas.
Auckland Transport (AT) is seeking public feedback on the changes through the month of March. The changes are estimated to cost Auckland ratepayers $24 million dollars.
800 roads in Auckland and the surrounding region could see speed limit changes should the bylaw, that began consultation last month, go through.
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The new proposal would see the speed limit on Cape Hill Road in Pukekohe changed from 100kmh to 60kmh; Ostrich Farm Road in Patumahoe changed from 100kmh down to 60kmh; with many other major rural roads in the region dropping to 80kmh.
AA spokesman Barney Irvine said AT's speed limit programme couldn't succeed without strong public support, and changes had to make sense to people, or else they wouldn't comply.
Irvine said that of the 1,000 people that responded to the survey, 46 per cent were largely or completely opposed to the proposed changes, 32 per cent were largely or completely in favour, and 21 per cent described themselves as somewhere in the middle.
'What the survey results highlight, is that AA members are open to speed limit changes on high-risk roads, but the changes have to be targeted and they have to be credible. In general, that's not what AA members are seeing enough of in rural Auckland,' he said.
Irvine said the concern wasn't so much with the main roads that were included in the proposal, where AT was looking to reduce speed limits from 100kmh to 80kmh. Instead, it was with the secondary roads that feed into the main roads - many of which are facing reductions from 100kmh down to 60kmh.
He said Franklin west was the area where there was the most examples of this.
'Our members are telling us that 60kmh doesn't make sense at all. All they think it's going to do is create confusion and frustration, which might lead to even more reckless driving,' Irvine said.
'This approach makes people feel like they're dealing with a blanket approach, rather than a targeted one.'
Pukekohe resident Codie Hageman agreed.
'It seems like smacking a nail in with a sledgehammer,' he said.
'Many of our roads, or large stretches of them, are quite safe to travel on at 100kmh with adequate passing opportunities, shoulders and visibility, yet will be part of a blanket speed reduction.'
Hageman said AT should focus on the trouble spots.
'Focus on the trouble spots by all means, but this un-targeted approach is a recipe for frustration and longer commutes, all for the benefit of a few inattentive and/or incompetent drivers who cannot drive safely at the current speed limits.'
The survey results showed opposition firmly outweighed support in Franklin east, Franklin west, and in Rodney southwest.
In Rodney east, the bulk of people were supportive of the proposed changes.
Irvine said this should provide a model for the approach in the other areas.
'What we see in Rodney east is an approach that makes much more sense to be people. The footprint is a lot smaller, and there are fewer OTT speed limit reductions.'
The rural survey followed an Auckland-wide survey of AA members on speed limits late last year, which showed opposition to AT's proposed blanket 30kmh zone in the CBD and in town centres.
Auckland Transport spokesman, Mark Hannan, said AT's safe speeds programme had 'never been a blanket approach to proposed speed limit reductions.'
'Using crash data from the NZ Transport Agency's crash analysis system, AT has focused on the top 10 per cent of high risk areas across the region.'
'Doing so is likely to return the best benefits, which is to immediately reduce the high rates of deaths and serious injuries on our roads, especially in the Franklin area,' Hannan said.
He said all roads proposed for changes had been selected because they were either high-risk roads or close to high-risk roads; have high crash rates, or are close to roads with high crash rates; or have speed limits which are unsuitable – they could be winding, hilly or have unsegregated lanes.
'It is impossible to safety drive at 100kmh on these roads,' Hannan said.
AT's public consultation closes on March 31, and the AA is urging its members and the wider public to make sure they have their say.