Reduction in speed riles mayor
A possible speed limit reduction on the road to Raglan has riled the area’s mayor.
The New Zealand Transport Agency is considering reducing the speed limit on State Highway 23 to Raglan, in an effort to help make the road safer.
But Waikato District Mayor Allan Sanson has hit back, saying the agency is ‘‘hell bent’’ on low speeds, and the changes would bring community outrage.
NZTA is looking at reducing speeds from 100kmh between Dinsdale to Raglan, to 80 and 60kmh at different sections along the road.
Stretches of road around Whatawhata, The Deviation, Te Uku and Greenslade Rd would be lowered to 60kmh – the rest would drop to 80kmh.
It’s part of a speed review for State Highways 23, 31 and 39 in West Waikato – across Raglan, Whatawhata, O¯ torohanga, Pirongia and Kawhia.
Between December 2013 – February 2019, there were 258 crashes on the road, 27 which were serious and three fatal, NZTA data shows.
In December 2019, another person died at the scene of the crash when their car plummeted down a bank off the highway.
But Sanson criticised NZTA for focusing too much on low speeds.
‘‘You’ve got an Associate Minister for Transport who is hell bent on getting speed limits down so everybody crawls to work,’’ he said.
‘‘NZTA seem to think that by reducing speeds they will reduce crash incidents but I don’t think that’s the case, because the majority of crashes comes from drivers making the wrong decisions and making mistakes.’’
He was expecting a backlash from regular commuters.
Sanson supported dropping limits down to 60km at the top of the hill around The Deviation, and at the Greenslade Rd area, he said.
‘‘But the rest of it, come on – where’s driver responsibility around these things?
‘‘It’s not an 80kmh road, it may be at best a 90-100kmh road, but it ain’t an 80kmh road.’’
Raglan resident Tom Billington, who commutes daily on State Highway 23 to work in Hamilton, said lowering speed limits would be a ‘‘bad idea’’.
Billington agreed speeds around Greenslade Road should reduce, a busy area where vehicles come in at speed, he said. But lowering the overall limit to 80kmh would not solve issues and may even cause hazards, he said.
‘‘It’s just going to frustrate people who commute regularly and they’ll probably end up speeding anyway.’’
His commute takes about 45 minutes now but he expected an increase of 15 or 20 minutes if speeds dropped. Billington said the road had a mix of regular commuters, and many visitors unfamiliar with it.
Some vehicles did not pull over in slow vehicle lanes, causing traffic back-ups and dangerous overtaking at other points in the road.
‘‘Some punters travel at 60 or 70 when they could be driving safely at 100.’’
NZTA Portfolio Manager Delivery for Safety Networks Programme David Van Staden said a technical assessment of the highway identified potential safer speed limits.
‘‘We certainly feel that having the appropriate speeds will contribute to the roads being safer.’’
But the review for all West Waikato highways was at an early stage, and limits might not be lowered once feedback was received, Van Staden said.
There’s always a chance someone will make a mistake on the road, he said, but speeds were important too.
‘‘The key thing to keep in mind is speed is a crucial factor in reducing the severity of crashes.’’
Conditions of the highways, such as road alignment and corners, numbers of power poles, trees and ditches, were part of the speed assessment, he said. NZTA has been in discussion with Waikato District Council and the AA, and may organise information events with the community if the proposal goes ahead, Van Staden said.
The NZTA is also looking at lowering speeds on State Highway 39 between Whatawhata and O¯ torohanga, and on State Highway 31 between Cannon Rd and Lake Rd in Kawhia.