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George St has gone dotty, but it appears the new road rules are taking time to sink in.
After Dunedin city councillors voted last week to reduce the speed limit from 30kmh to 10kmh in the main street to encourage physical distancing among shoppers, large coloured dots appeared on the road at the weekend.
The dots, intended to remind people the area is a shared space, will likely remain until physical distancing measures are no longer required.
However, while new speed signs were erected hours after Friday’s decision, motorists did not appear to be taking much heed over the weekend.
Most vehicles were observed exceeding the new limit on Saturday.
The changes drew the ire of many people on social media, which did not pass unnoticed by the council.
A spokesman said the council had received a small amount of feedback directly on the temporary change, "although a larger volume of comments on social media has also been noted".
Traffic monitoring data collected at intersections showed the changes were achieving the desired result, he said.
Average travel times from the Princes St-Moray Pl intersection north to Frederick St had increased from just under six minutes last Monday to just over eight minutes yesterday.
The council has had discussions with police about the enforcement of the temporary 10kmh speed limit, the spokesman said.
Senior Sergeant Craig Dinnissen, of Dunedin, said while George St would be covered by police patrols, it was not a priority target area.
That was because police were still seeing "excessive speeds on the open road, intersection crashes and red lights being run" elsewhere.
"So deployment will continue to focus on those areas were we see the greatest harm occurring."
Snr Sgt Dinnissen was unaware of any fines being issued for speeding on George St at the weekend.