Consultation opens on speed limit changes

Safer speeds in where we live, work and go to school are the drivers behind Waikato District Council’s latest round of proposed speed limit changes.

Consultation has opened on the Proposed 2021 Amendments to the Speed Limits Bylaw 2011.

Communities will have until 23 January 2022 to provide their feedback on the proposed changes.

Council is proposing to change the speed limits on over 300 roads in the Waikato District, with the main focus areas being residential zones, school roads and town centres.

The key points of the proposed changes are:

• Reducing some of our residential road speed limits in urban areas throughout the district to 40kmh for consistency
• Reducing town centre roads in Huntly, Te Kauwhata, Ngaruawahia and Tuakau to 30kmh
• Reducing speed limits around our urban and rural schools for safety
• Increasing some of our road speed limits for efficiency
• Aligning the speed limits on roads shared with the Auckland boundary for consistency
• Extending the 40kmh speed limit in the Te Kowhai area for pedestrian safety
• Reducing the speed limit to 60km/h on Tamahere Drive between the country club and the SH1 Interchange, and Tauwhare Road between Woodcock Road and the SH1 interchange

Waikato District Council’s Senior Transportation Engineer Gareth Bellamy says Council has received requests from the community for further changes for safer speeds in and around residential areas, near schools, town centres and places where people work.

“Proposed speed limit changes usually bring up varying opinions from our communities but there is only one objective here, and that is to make our roads safer for motorists, pedestrians and cyclists,” says Mr Bellamy.

“We also have a duty to respond to Central Government’s requirement to reduce road trauma on local roads. We encourage our communities in the district to have their say on these proposed speed limit changes.”

People can take part by providing feedback on Council’s Shape Waikato consultation website here.

There is an interactive map on this site that shows all the roads earmarked for change, as well as full list of roads in the Statement of Proposal.

Feedback closes on 23 January 2022.