Road safety  |  7 Jul 2022

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Christchurch City Council is lowering the speed limit on some Papanui, Opawa and Banks Peninsula roads as part of its ongoing drive to make the transport network safer.

The Council, on the recommendation of the two local Community Board, has agreed to lower the speed limit on the local streets in Papanui from 50 to 40 kilometres per hour. The streets surrounding schools will be lowered to 30 kilometres per hour, either permanently or through variable speed limits.

The public was consulted about the change earlier this year. More than three-quarters (77 per cent) of the submissions the Council received supported having a lower speed limit.

The Council also voted to reduce the speed limit from 50 kilometres per hour to 30 or 40 kilometres per hour on selected streets in Opawa and in Hunter Terrace, Beckenham. Public feedback on this proposed change showed 90 per cent of submitters supported it.

“We want everyone to feel safe on our roads so one of our key focuses is on making sure that we have safe and appropriate speeds limits in place. Everyone should be able to get where they’re going safely,’’ says Council Transport Operations Manager Stephen Wright.

“We know that even a small reduction in speed has huge safety benefits so that is why we are moving to lower the speed limit in many areas of the city, particularly suburban areas where there are lots of children and elderly people. Reducing the speed limit does not have a significant impact on people’s journey times, but it does have a big impact on their safety,’’ Mr Wright says.

The Council also agreed today to lower the speed limit in some of the rural settlements on Banks Peninsula and on the some of the side roads adjoining State Highway 75.

“The lower speed limits will improve safety in Takamatua, Motukarara, Robinsons Bay, Kaituna, Little River, Cooptown and Barrys Bay and on the many of the rural roads in the area. They could make the difference between someone dying in a collision or walking away unharmed,’’ says Mr Wright.

The Council lowered the speed limits on many other Banks Peninsula roads last year.

The New Zealand transport agency, Waka Kotahi, has also announced that it will introduce new safer speed limits on State Highway 73 and 75 between Christchurch and Akaroa and on State Highway 74 in Lyttelton. The state highway speed limit changes will take place in late July/early August.