PUSH TO CUT SPEED LIMITS

COUNCIL’S NEW ROAD SAFETY PLAN

SPEED limits in some streets could be reduced permanently to 30km/h and flashing signs introduced to change the levels at tourist precincts at night.

Council’s transport committee has backed a series of tougher measures flagged by officers as they build a Gold Coast Road Safety Plan for 2021-26.

The Coast’s road toll more than doubled in 12 months – from nine in 2019 to 20 in 2020 – preventing council reaching an aspirational target of reducing serious injuries and deaths by 30 per cent.

Up to 40 per cent fewer drivers were on the roads during COVID-19 but a council report suggested those behind the wheel were going faster, aware of the lack of police and random breath-testing teams as cops manned border patrols.

Council officers had put forward nine potential safety measures, ranging from big speed sign advertising and installing white lines across roads.

But councillors gave their strongest support to lowering speed limits on roads where there were many pedestrians and cyclists. Full council will consider the report on Tuesday.

“Recent research indicates a 30km/h speed limit along certain road environments may be beneficial to improving the safety of all road users,” an officer’s report says.

Deputy Mayor Donna Gates asked officers about Hedges Ave at Mermaid Beach, the city’s first beachfront road with a 30km/h zone.

Officers said there was evidence from both Hedges Ave and similar roads in other CBDs that reducing the speed limit to 30km/h prevented crashes.

Transport committee chair Councillor Pauline Young said: “James St in Burleigh and Connor St were dropped from 40km/h to 30km/h. We’ve had a lot of feedback through our office that it’s well supported, especially by the elderly residents and those with children who take longer to cross the road. We’ve had quite positive feedback.”

Cr Gail O’Neill said a 30km/h limit was about to be adopted in unlit areas on Griffith St in Coolangatta.

While not authorising the change, Cr O’Neill asked officers to report back on the speed reduction in the main street once it was introduced.

Cr William Owen Jones supported changing speed limits in entertainment zones like Surfers Paradise and Broadbeach. “I particularly liked the signs in the entertainment areas. I think where we were mixing ultimately people who might have had good time and moving at a slower speed, that makes a lot of sense,” he said.

The report says dynamic speed limits that required flashing signs could be in “night-time economic precincts” and special event areas.

Officers said many of the examples listed “were well established interventions” and council only needed to work out whether they would be successful on a road after an engineering check.

The Road Safety Plan 2026 was being “developed” with the aim to report back to the transport committee in June.

The final draft will be completed in May and, after committee backing, the plan is scheduled to start in July.