30 kmh limit on again
A failed plan to lower speed limits in central Wellington is being resurrected.
The Wellington City Council is proposing to change the CBD speed limit to 30kmh as part of a plan for a safer central city – and it wants the Government to make the consultation process easier.
The proposal to extend the 30kmh limit from the Golden Mile to the rest of the CBD was first raised in 2011.
It was shelved and brought back to the council in 2014, when the council voted 8-7 to retain the 50kmh limit.
It argued the speed in the city was self-regulating and it made no sense to dribble along at 30kmh when the traffic conditions did not warrant it.
But now councillor Chris Calvi-Freeman, who holds the transport strategy and operations portfolio, is confident of getting ‘‘almost universal support’’ for the plan because the new council had a ‘‘matured constitution’’.
He would like to see the project ‘‘done and dusted’’ by 2019.
Council staff would start looking at what speeds were appropriate for the CBD and dusting off the 2014 report to see what principles and rules had changed, and whether a blanket speed limit was appropriate or something that was more specific to streets.
‘‘The key message is that when you come into the city centre, you are not on a motorway, there are other users,’’ Calvi-Freeman said. A compromise needed to be reached and the council would engage in
appropriate consultation, he said.
But the council’s submission on the Government’s Policy Statement (GPS) on Land Transport says it wanted to see improvements in speed management legislation and safety and although necessary, consultation about proposed changes currently had ‘‘very demanding requirements’’.
‘‘To use this tool [speed management legislation] further, it would be helpful if the process to change speed limits was made easier.’’
Councillor Sarah Free, who holds the public transport, cycling and walking portfolio, said the council still got a lot of feedback from people who wanted slower speeds.
‘‘It would be good to have a default of 30kmh in the CBD and identify key routes that might need to be at a higher speed.’’