NPDC launches plan for greater road safety

Fewer crashes and reducing the risk of serious injury or death is at the heart of NPDC’s plans to drop speeds in some busy and high-risk areas across the district.

Feedback is now open on our draft Speed Management Plan, which proposes introducing lower speed limits to the busy urban areas in Waitara, Fitzroy and Westown and Inglewood and two high risk rural areas.

NPDC is also talking with marae trustees about safer speeds outside their marae.

For New Plymouth district the proposals are:

• Safer speed limits in the following high-risk rural areas:
• south-west of New Plymouth bounded by Carrington and Mangorei roads.
• and the coast, between SH3 and SH3a. The new speed limits would be mostly 80km/h, with some 60km/h where there is already community support for the change. 
• Permanent lower speed limits in the following urban areas with high pedestrian and road user movement: 30km/h in central Waitara, Fitzroy and Westown, and 40km/h in central Inglewood (to align with the proposed speeds along the state highway). 
• Some minor extensions to the New Plymouth CBD 30km/h area.
• Reducing the speed limit on roads adjacent to Inglewood’s Windsor Walkway, from 100km/h to 60km/h.
• Safer speed limits on some DOC roads, including Egmont Road from the national park’s gates to the visitor centre car park.

These proposals follow the introduction of lower speeds outside the district’s schools last year, and a 40km/h trial on roads around Taranaki Base Hospital.

“We know that lower speeds make for safer roads – in New Plymouth’s CBD, we’ve had a 45 per cent reduction in crashes since the 30km/h speeds limit began in 2012,” says NPDC Manager Transport Rui Leitao.

“Unfortunately, our road safety stats throughout the district are getting worse. Deaths and serious injury crashes on our local roads increased by 30 per cent in the last year against our goal of reducing them by 40 per cent by 2030.

He says the draft Speed Management Plan is about focusing on improving road users’ safety in other parts of our network.

Stratford and South Taranaki district councils are also consulting on speed plans for their areas.

NPDC is holding three drop-in days for residents to find out more about the proposals and share their thoughts:

• Inglewood Library and Service Centre: 4.30pm-6.00pm, Wednesday 11 October.
• Waitara Sports Hub: 4.30pm-6.00pm, Thursday 12 October (conference room 2).
• Ōākura – New Plymouth Old Boys Surf Club: 4.30pm-6.00pm, Wednesday 18 October.

A copy of the draft NPDC Speed Management Plan, including a 10-year vision for speed management is available online at trc.govt.nz/transport. Feedback closes on 29 October.

Fast facts:

• Waka Kotahi NZ Transport agency requires councils, as road controlling authorities, to develop speed management plans every three years.
• NPDC looks after 1,278km of roads, 960km of which is rural.
• The road network includes 272 bridges, 61km of stormwater drainage culverts and 11,178 traffic lights.

Caption: Fitzroy is one of four busy urban areas proposed to have lower speeds.