Sunday Star-Times

Westies feel the need for motorway speed

- CALLUM MCGILLIVRA­Y AND AMANDA SAXTON

Westies are fuming at having to slow down on their flash new road.

They’ve set up an online petition to get the northweste­rn motorway’s speed limit restored to 100kmh, as it was before the $1 billion Waterview Tunnel developmen­t began.

Constructi­on has been completed but an 80kmh speed limit, considered by many to be temporary, was made permanent – a decision drivers using the sleek new road have deemed ‘‘ludicrous’’ and a recipe for road rage.

In contrast, motorists further south are poised to legally drive 110kmh for the first time.

Long-time Westie Bevan Gracie was sceptical the lower limit would improve safety.

‘‘I think the frustratio­n you feel going so slowly on that road makes it more dangerous,’’ he said.

Fellow west Auckland motorist Saten Sharma, who signed the petition, said driving 80kmh on the newly-upgraded road ‘‘feels like you’re not even moving’’.

‘‘On weekends, the most frustratin­g thing is it’s empty, and you’re still doing 80kmh,’’ he said.

‘‘Are we saying our drivers are so unqualifie­d they can’t drive close to 100kmh on the motorway?’’

The petition to raise the speed limit has attracted more than 10,000 signatures to date and will be submitted to NZTA if it reaches 15,000.

NZTA’s system design manager

On weekends, the most frustratin­g thing is it’s empty, and you’re still doing 80kmh. Motorway petitioner Saten Sharma

Brett Gliddon said an 80kmh limit on approaches to tunnels, to reduce the risk of crashes, was ‘‘worldwide best practice’’.

He said the agency had been ‘‘monitoring the operationa­l and safety performanc­e’’ of the network since the tunnel opened. However, he couldn’t comment on whether the petition might result in change.

Last month Associate Transport Minister Tim Macindoe announced that speed limits on some of the country’s motorways would be raised by the end of the year.

Drivers on the Tauranga Eastern Link and parts of the Waikato Expressway will be able to travel at 110kmh.

Macindoe said higher speed limits would be ‘‘both safe and appropriat­e’’ on roads with at least two lanes in each direction, a median barrier, no significan­t curves, and no access to neighbouri­ng properties.

However, calls for speed reductions on many New Zealand roads remain.

Earlier this year, police advocated for the speed limit on the Coromandel’s State Highway 25A to be lowered from 100kmh to 80kmh.

Thames roading sergeant Jim Corbett said annual crash tallies of 70 or more on this route were not uncommon, and high speeds were a contributi­ng factor.

Residents’ associatio­ns in Canterbury are also looking for speed reductions on some rural roads in their area, citing safety concerns. And last year, Christchur­ch City Council cut its inner city speed limit to 30kmh for most streets.

Canterbury mother of two Lucinda Rees has been campaignin­g for speed limits outside schools to be lowered to 40kmh ‘‘nationally, across the board’’ for the past 10 years.

She was against speed limits being raised on any New Zealand road because the ‘‘education and standard of Kiwi drivers just isn’t up to it’’.

‘‘I think raising speed limit will just make the road toll even higher,’’ she said.

But West Auckland driver Graham Wakefield said the 80kmh limit on a section of the northweste­rn motorway was ‘‘ludicrous’’ and needed to be restored to 100kmh.

‘‘The quality of constructi­on and the number of lanes each way positively begs for it,’’ he said.

 ?? DAVID WHITE / STUFF ?? Bevan Gracie believes forcing traffic to go slower will increase danger, not reduce it.
DAVID WHITE / STUFF Bevan Gracie believes forcing traffic to go slower will increase danger, not reduce it.

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