Lowering Speeds on Porirua Roads Proposed

Following requests from residents on Grays Road and Paekakariki Hill Road, the Council is proposing to reduce the speeds on those roads permanently to 60km per hour.

In 2010, traffic calming measures, along with a temporary traffic speed reduction to 60 km/h, were implemented on Grays Road to reduce a sudden increase in accidents - some fatal. As well, safety improvement measures were implemented on both roads in 2011.

"We saw an immediate decrease in accident rates to less than 20% of the rate prior to the introduction of the temporary measures. As there have been no significant issues with the reduced speed limit, and locals have told us it works well, we now recommend that the 60km/h speed limit be made permanent," says Mayor Nick Leggett.

Grays Road has a curving alignment and serves as an alternative route to the arterial road network. When the speed limit was 80km/h there were a number of accidents along the road's entire length due to speeding drivers and driver error.

Paekakariki Hill Road is a similar road to Grays Road with a curving alignment and its popularity as a shortcut to the arterial road network. It currently has speed limits of 70km/h and 80km/h on two road sections and there have been numerous accidents, particularly with loss of control on corners in poor weather.

"To improve safety on Paekakariki Hill Road, and to achieve a uniform speed environment with the adjacent Grays Road, we recommend that the speed limit be reduced to 60km/h."

Speed limits are reviewed to ensure consistency in their application throughout the City and to improve road safety.

As well as Grays Road and Paekakariki Hill Road, the Council is also reviewing speed limits on Raiha Street and Titahi Bay Road, and 40k/h School Zones around selected schools.

Raiha Street has a current speed limit of 50km/h from the intersection of Raiha Street and Prosser Street to Makaro Street – a light industrial area. From that point onwards a speed limit of 70km/h applies. However, due to significant industrial development along the eastern side of Raiha Street, Council proposes extending the 50km/h speed further south by 190m to cater for the new industrial developments.

On Titahi Bay Road the proposal is to extend the 50km/h speed limit zone to the south to make it safer for students and to reduce crashes in the area.

After requests from a number of schools the Council also proposes reducing the speed limit to a '40km/h School Zone' at: Corinna School, St Pius X School, Mana College, Porirua Primary School, Holy Family School, Windley School, Titahi Bay School and Postgate School.

Following public consultation and agreement from the New Zealand Transport Agency, changes to speed limits on these roads could be introduced from September 2012.

The Council wants to hear from the public on these proposed changes and people have until 15 June 2012 to have their say.

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