70 sites for slowing down traffic proposed

Clyde's Heritage Precinct. Photo: Getty Images
Clyde's Heritage Precinct. Photo: Getty Images
The pace of development in Central Otago makes it likely the pace of travel will be reduced with lowered speed limits in 70 locations throughout the district to go out for public consultation.

At a virtual meeting of the Central Otago District Council on Wednesday, councillors agreed to public consultation and the appointment of three councillors, Stu Duncan, Tracy Paterson and Tamah Allay, to hear submissions.

This was not before some councillors expressed misgivings about having multiple speed zones within a short distance of each other, saying it would potentially confuse motorists.

Council senior strategy adviser Alix Crosbie said the changes included small sections of street through to new developments and town centres and there had been considerable growth and development since the last review of the speed limits bylaw in 2007.

Some changes were prompted by requests to the council to lower speed limits in particular locations.

In her report, Ms Crosbie said speed limits were set using guidelines developed by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency ensuring they were aligned across local authorities and providing consistency for road users.

Waka Kotahi was also in the process of phasing out 70kmh limits in favour of either 10kmh slower or 10kmh faster.

A large portion of the changes were in rural residential areas where traffic, pedestrian, and cyclist volumes had increased due to housing growth in areas where the speed limit had been 100kmh.

The Clyde Heritage Precinct was suited to a lower speed environment of 30kmh to account for pedestrians and cyclists. Design improvements included traffic-calming features that promoted multi-modal transportation.

In Naseby it was recommended to reduce speed to 40kmh, consistent with a low-speed village setting as the roading in the Naseby township featured narrow streets with no kerbs and channels.

Reduced speed limits were proposed for two new subdivisions in Cromwell as the design of the developments suited a lower speed environment.

Changes in Roxburgh East Rd were in response to requests from the public.

The final version of the proposed bylaw would be presented to the council by July 13 and implementation of physical changes would follow final adoption, with a tentative date of August 1 set for the bylaw to come into effect.

jared.morgan@odt.co.nz

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