More than 50 people have made a submission on lowering speed limits on more than 30 sections of road on Otago Peninsula, most of them in favour of the proposal.
The Dunedin City Council proposes to reduce the speed limits on most rural roads on the peninsula to 70kmh, with a maximum of 80kmh on others.
John Wilson Ocean Dr was also included in a review of the Speed Limits Bylaw 2004, with the recommendation to reduce speed there to 30kmh when the road is reopened to vehicles.
The speed limits were reviewed after the Otago Peninsula Community Board sought an end to the situation of roads without posted speed limits, many of them narrow and winding, automatically defaulting to 100kmh.
Council staff assessed 28 roads across the peninsula and recommended changes, based on safety, road characteristics, the environment, road users and surrounding developments.
The council consulted the public over the proposals in July and a hearings subcommittee of councillors Kate Wilson, Fliss Butcher and Jinty MacTavish will hear from 12 of 54 submitters on Wednesday.
A staff report to the subcommittee said 28 of the submissions were in full support of the proposed changes, 21 were partly supportive - most wanted lower limits on specific roads - and five were opposed.
Supporters included police, the Otago Peninsula Community Board, Larnach Castle and the Road Transport Association.
The road with the most submissions made on it was John Wilson Ocean Dr. Only four of the 10 submitters supported the proposed speed limit.
Of the 12 submitters to speak to their submissions, most supported having a lower speed limit than proposed on specific roads.
The report noted some submitters wanted 50kmh or 60kmh limits on some or all roads, especially outer peninsula gravel roads within Hoopers Inlet, Papanui Inlet and Sandymount, but the staff report said that by the time the road user reached those lower-standard roads, it was expected they would adjust to the environmental cues anyway, and a 70kmh limit was considered appropriate.
Any changes would be ratified by the council in December and come into effect on February 1, 2013.
