The narrow rural road runs from the Gleniti end of Wai-Iti Rd to the Whalebones Corner connection of Taiko Rd and Fairview Rd and much of its 7km length is in an open-road speed zone.
Resident Barry Crossman, who has lived in Claremont Rd for the last five years, said he had spent much of that time rallying for a change.
"For the last four years, I've been ringing the road safety people in the council. They responded back 12 months ago and said ‘yes, we’re looking at all of these scenarios, new speed limits and that’.
"Since then they’ve changed Old North Rd, Beaconsfield Rd, Divans [Rd], Rockdale [Rd], Washdyke Flat Rd, and Claremont Rd’s been forgotten.
"At that stage I thought ‘dammit’. So I made a point to see the mayor [Nigel Bowen] and went and got a petition going and got 40 individual letters from the residents here and took them to the mayor. He invited me to meet and speak with the council in May."
Mr Crossman he said he was told the council would come back to him in a fortnight but a month later he had still heard nothing.
"I’m a bit peeved because all the residents that signed the petition are saying to me ‘well, what’s happening?’. It’s getting to a point where it’s like, how much further can we sort of go?".
He said one of the biggest reasons for wanting the reduction was that the road was used by four school buses a day.
"I’ve followed this bus two or three times now from up Claremont Hall, coming down, sitting way back from it, watching them drop off the kiddies and cars just come past no brake lights, no nothing.
"A lot of the kids get off on the left-hand side, but then they’ve got to cross the road to their home. Cars come past at 100kmh and they are travelling at 27.2 metres a second. In two seconds you’ve got half a football field, so the kids are playing Russian roulette really.
"Fair enough their parents should be there, but a lot of them aren’t there all the time."
Ultimately, 100kmh was just too fast, Mr Crossman said.
"There are 60 residents or houses now from the 80 sign to Brockley Rd. This is the area we are looking at. It’s getting to be quite a built-up area.
"There is one house on Washdyke Flat Rd and that was dropped back to 80[kmh], I just don’t know where we go next. We just want it put down to the safest speed, whether that is 80 like down the side of the reservoir but it could even come back to 60 really.
"You feel like hitting your head against a brick wall with it. We feel like the forgotten road."
Timaru District Council land transport manager Susannah Ratahi said council officers agreed an 80kmh speed limit was appropriate for many of the region’s rural roads, including Claremont Rd.
"However, under the new Speed Limit Setting Rule 2024, we are currently required to reverse previous speed limit reductions on specified roads as the first step.
"Only once that process is complete can road controlling authorities lawfully develop a new speed management plan that aligns with the updated national direction.
"While technically a temporary speed limit could be installed, doing so outside the mandated process would not result in a legally enforceable limit, which impacts driver compliance.
"It would also be inconsistent with other nearby roads with similar characteristics, such as Taiko Rd, Fairview Rd, and most unsealed [shingle] and sealed rural roads in the district."
She said a July 2024 request by Mr Crossman was received after the Interim Speed Management Plan’s formal consultation period had closed but the request was logged for future assessment.
"We also engaged with police, who hold enforcement powers for speed compliance, to raise the community’s concerns.
"There have been two serious crashes on Claremont Rd since records began in 1980, one in 1995 and one in 2019. Across our district, around one-third of all fatal and serious crashes on local roads occur on bends," she said.
"We acknowledge the community’s concerns and appreciate the petition. These requests help inform future decisions, and Claremont Rd will be considered as part of the next round of speed limit reviews under the legal framework."
