NZTA tool OKS 100kmh zones

A safe speed calculator used by NZ Transport Agency contradicts its plan to drop the speed limit on a stretch of highway between Blenheim and Nelson.

Mega Maps, which looks at road width and type, shoulder width, roadside hazards and alignment, indicates 100kmh is an appropriate speed for the Renwick to Havelock section of State Highway 6, as the NZTA looks to drop the speed limit to 80kmh.

But NZTA regional relationships director Jim Harland stressed that although Mega Maps was an ‘‘important tool in the decision-making process around speed’’, it was not the only tool.

‘‘We also look at previous crash history, the average speed vehicles are travelling on the road, the number and types of vehicles using the road each day, what is happening around the road in terms of housing, urban development, businesses, and other activity.

‘‘We also consider previous public concerns and stakeholder comments,’’ Harland said.

NZTA announced earlier this month it was pushing for the 100kmh speed limits on SH6 from

Blenheim to Nelson to be reduced to 80kmh. Between 2009 and 2018, there had been a total of 19 deaths and 87 serious injuries in 100kmh zones on SH6 between Nelson and Blenheim.

If the proposal was approved, it would increase the journey between Nelson and Blenheim by nine minutes, with half of that time from the Blenheim to Havelock

leg.

Harland said the ‘‘narrow’’ Renwick to Havelock portion of SH6 was ‘‘unforgiving’’ with unseparated traffic lanes and many hazards including power poles, steep banks and bridges, which meant there was ‘‘very little room to recover if a driver makes a mistake’’.

‘‘There are driveways and intersections along this stretch, and there are many types of traveller – tourists, local people, commuters, truck drivers, people on bikes and motorcycles.

‘‘These factors, along with the relatively high traffic volumes (about 10,000 vehicles per day), result in a high number of crashes that have a variety of causes. The severity of the outcome of these crashes is very often influenced by speed,’’ Harland said.

Automobile Association (AA) motoring affairs general manager Mike Noon said he was concerned NZTA was losing the public’s confidence as local communities united against the speed limit drop. More than 10,000 people had signed a petition against decreasing the speed on SH6, as of Wednesday morning.

‘‘The general public understand that speed limit changes are needed in some high risk places and people aren’t slow in speaking up when they think a road is dangerous.

‘‘But in this case, there are a large number of voices saying they have comfortably and safely driven the road at 100kmh for years so they can’t understand why a 114km-long road suddenly needs to be travelled at 80kmh and some parts even 60kmh,’’ Noon said.

‘‘NZTA’S own information systems [Mega Maps] in fact still advise that sections of the road are appropriate for driving at 100kmh – for example between Renwick and Havelock – so the AA can’t understand why the proposal doesn’t recognise this.’’

NZTA and the AA were expected to meet this week to continue talks on road safety and speed limit changes, Noon said.