CITY DELIVERY COMMITTEE 1 MARCH 2018 SPEED LIMIT CHANGES - RURAL ROADS OFF STATE HIGHWAY 58 AND COROGLEN RISE (OFF AIRLIE ROAD) PURPOSE The purpose of this report is to seek approval to begin a public consultation process on the review of speed limits on a number of rural roads. RECOMMENDATIONS That the City Delivery Committee: 1. Receive the report; 2. Approve the commencement of a public consultation process for the review of speed limits on: a. the following rural roads off SH58: Harris Road; Moonshine Road; Flightys Road; Murphys Road; Mulhern Road; Bradey Road; Belmont Road; and b. Coroglen Rise, off Airlie Road. BACKGROUND SH58 Speed Limit: 1. The Council occasionally receives requests to lower speed limits around the city. In addition, speed limits are reviewed from time to time to ensure consistency in the application of speed limits throughout Porirua City and on the regional roading network, and to improve road safety. 2. The last review of speed limits on rural roads in the area adjacent to SH58 was completed in 2012, which resulted in a change of speed limits on Paekakariki Hill Road and Grays Road to 60km/h. The speed limit changes to these rural roads were approved by Council on 22 August 2012. 3. The speed limit of Airlie Road was reduced to 60km/h in 2005. Coroglen Rise is an open rural road off Airlie Road with a current speed limit of 100km/h. This situation gives a wrong indication to motorists that Coroglen Rise is a faster and safer road than Airlie Road. From this point of view, 12
the Council should review the speed limit on Coroglen Rise. 4. In 2014, Porirua City Council was approached by the NZ Transport Agency to work together in reducing speed limits on SH58 from the current 100km/h to 80km/h from Haywards to the Pauatahanui roundabout and to 70km/h from this location to Postgate Drive. NZ Transport Agency invited Porirua City Council to join their public consultation process. 5. In November 2014, NZ Transport Agency organised an initial consultation meeting on planned safety improvement works and the reduction of the speed limit on SH58. Porirua City Council joined NZTA in the meeting and presented planned reductions of the current speed limits on rural roads off SH58 and Coroglen Rise, off Airlie Road. The speed limit review was then postponed by NZTA until the new rule for setting speed limits was introduced in November 2017. In the meantime, NZTA has completed a number of safety improvement works on SH58. 6. NZTA is planning formal public consultation from 20 March to 20 April 2018, with two public consultation meetings on 24 and 27 March. Porirua City Council and Upper Hutt City Council have been invited to join NZTA in public consultation on reducing speed limits on the connecting side roads under council jurisdiction. It is more efficient to have a joint consultation process, with benefits in time and ease of communication for the local road controlling authorities and for the general public. 7. There are several rural roads off SH58 that will be affected by the NZTA reduction in the speed limit on SH58. These roads are Bradey Road, Belmont Road, Flightys Road, Murphys Road, Mulhern Road, Moonshine Road and Harris Road. These roads are open roads with a current speed limit of 100km/h. It is appropriate to have lower speed limits on roads of a lower hierarchy than on roads with a higher hierarchy within the same roading network. A reduction of speed limits on rural roads off SH58 is consistent with the NZTA proposed speed limit reduction on SH58. Setting Speed Limits on Local Roads: 8. In 2017, a new Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2017 replaced the old Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2003. It replaces Speed Limits NZ (SLNZ) as the methodology for determining speed limits in New Zealand, with an approach incorporating new technologies and data to assess on-road risk. 9. The new Land Transport Rule applies the Speed Management Guide from November 2016 and the information in the NZTA Speed Management Maps. The Speed Management Guide outlines a new approach to the way speed on the roads is controlled. The new approach provides more consistency to speed limit setting and speed management and enables communities and stakeholders to have meaningful contribution to decisions that will make travelling by road safer and more efficient. It uses an assessment framework that produces evidence-based speed management maps based on nationally-consistent data sets of travel speeds, road risk and road classification. These maps are developed by NZTA for each Road Controlling Authority and they suggest safe and appropriate speeds for the roads within their networks. 13
DISCUSSION AND OPTIONS Introduction 10. Speed limit reductions are being considered in order to reduce traffic speeds on selected Porirua City roads and to adjust speed limits on local roads to be consistent with reduced speed limits on adjoining higher hierarchy roads. A reduction in traffic speed will contribute towards improved road safety by helping to reduce the number and severity of accidents, and will provide consistency in the speed limits throughout Porirua City and on the regional roading network. Speed limits should reflect road hierarchy and it would be appropriate and expected by road users to have a lower speed limit along a narrow local rural road than on a State Highway. It would be good practice to set consistent speed limits on all our rural roads. This will also conform with the core principle of consistency from the Speed Management Guide. 11. Harris Road, Moonshine Road, Flightys Road, Murphys Road, Mulhern Road, Bradey Road and Belmont Road are open roads off SH58 with a current speed limit of 100km/h. SH58 currently has a speed limit of 100km/h and NZTA is proposing to reduce it to 80km/h. In previous consultation with the community in 2014, the majority of locals indicated that their preference was to reduce the speed limits on these roads to 60km/h. Speed limits on rural roads were not reduced in 2014, following the initial consultation process, because the NZTA decided to postpone a speed limit reduction until the new Rule for Setting speed limits was in force (in 2017). An assessment of safe and comfortable speeds to drive on these roads was done by Council officers. A speed survey indicated that the safe speed limit to travel on these roads would be around 60km/h. The new NZTA Speed Management Guide for setting speed limits suggests in the Speed Management Maps that a safe speed limit for rural roads off SH58 and for Coroglen Rise would be 60-80km/h. Rural Roads off SH58 Proposed Speed Limit Changes: Bradey Road Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Bradey Road is an open rural road off SH58 with a current speed limit of 100km/h. It is quite wide and has a length of approximately 1km, before finishing quite abruptly. There are no recorded speeding issues on this road and there have not been any accidents along the entire length of the road in the period between 2013 and 2017. Different speeds were trialled along the entire road, and the safe speed to travel on this road is considered to be 60km/h. It is recommended that a safe speed limit on this road would be 60km/h. Belmont Road Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Belmont Road is an open rural road with a current speed limit of 100km/h. It is a very narrow road with tight corners and limited visibility. There are no recorded speeding issues on this road and there have not been any accidents in the period between 2013 and 2017. A speed trial showed that it was possible to drive safely at 70km/h up to the first corner, after that a safe speed was around 40km/h. 14
In order to achieve consistency in speed limits on rural roads around the city, it is recommended that a safe speed limit on this road would be 60km/h, which is an average speed of indicated safe speeds for this Flightys Road Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Flightys Road is an open rural road with a current speed limit of 100km/h. It is 3.0km long and features some tight corners with limited visibility. There are no recorded accidents on this road in the period of 2013 to 2017. However, complaints have been received from residents about speeding on this A speed trial showed it was possible to drive safely at a speed between 50km/h and 80km/h. It would be appropriate to have a speed limit on this road lower than 80km/h on SH58. The voluntary speed limit of 60km/h for Transmission Gully traffic has largely been effective. Different factors indicated a safe speed range between 50km/h and 70km/h. In order to achieve consistency in set speed limits on rural roads around the city, it is recommended that a safe speed limit on this road would be 60km/h. Murphys Road Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Murphys Road is another open rural road with a current speed limit of 100km/h. It is very narrow with tight corners and very limited visibility. No speeding issues have been recorded on this road, and no accidents in the period between 2013 and 2017. A speed trial on this road showed the safe operating speed is 50km/h, appropriate to the nature of the road and its alignment. It would be appropriate to have a speed limit on this road lower than the 80km/h limit on SH58. Different factors indicated a safe speed range between 50km/h and 70km/h. In order to achieve consistency in set speed limits on rural roads around the city, it is recommended that a safe speed limit on this road would be 60km/h. Mulhern Road Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Mulhern Road is an open rural road with a current speed limit of 100km/h. It is a hilly 2.6km long road, with very tight corners and limited visibility. No speeding issues have been recorded on this road and no accidents in the period between 2013 and 2017. A speed trial showed that it is safe to drive on this road between 40km/h and 50km/h. 15
Different factors indicated a safe speed range between 50km/h and 70km/h. In order to achieve consistency in set speed limits on rural roads around the city, it is recommended that a safe speed limit on this road wold be 60km/h. Moonshine Road Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Moonshine Road is an open rural road with a current speed limit of 100km/h. The section of Moonshine Road within Porirua City is 4.9km long, and is of a very windy nature. The road narrows quickly and has very limited visibility around corners. A number of complaints have been received from residents relating to vehicles travelling at excessive speed. There have been no recorded accidents on this road in the period between 2013 and 2017. A speed test showed a safe speed to be between 40km/h and 50km/h. Different factors indicated a safe speed range between 40km/h and 50km/h. In order to achieve consistency in set speed limits on rural roads around the city, it is recommended that a safe speed limit on this road would be 60km/h. Harris Road Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Harris Road was omitted from the earlier speed limit review in November 2014. However Harris Road should be treated in a similar way to the other rural roads off State Highway 58, and the speed limit should be reviewed. Harris Road is an open rural road with a current speed limit of 100km/h. It is a winding 3.3km long road, with sections with very tight corners and limited visibility. No speeding issues and no accidents have been recorded in the period between 2013 and 2017. A speed test has not been performed on this In order to achieve consistency in set speed limits around the city, it is recommended that a safe speed limit for this road would be 60km/h. Coroglen Rise, off Airlie Road 12. In order to achieve consistency in setting speed limits on adjacent roads and to remove wrong impression that Coroglen Rise is safer road than Airlie Road, it is appropriate to review the speed limit on Coroglen Rise. 16
Coroglen Rise Speed Limit Change from 100km/h to 60km/h: Coroglen Rise is an open rural road off Airlie Road and has a current speed limit of 100km/h. There are no recorded speeding issues and no accidents on this road in the period between 2013 and 2017. A speed test has not been performed on this Coroglen Rise is a similar road to Airlie Road, being a rural road with low volume traffic. To be consistent with the existing 60km/h speed limit on Airlie Road, it is appropriate that the speed limit on Coroglen Rise should be reduced to 60km/h. RECOMMENDED OPTION 13. A review of speed limits on Bradey Road, Belmont Road, Flightys Road, Murphys Road, Mulhern Road, Moonshine Road, Harris Road and Coroglen Rise is recommended. 14. Safe speed varies along different sections of the different rural roads off SH58 between 40km/h and 70km/h. a. A safe speed limit recommended for these rural roads by a new Rule for Setting Speed Limits is 60-80km/h. b. In order to achieve consistency with SH58, the speed limit on rural roads should be a minimum of 10km/h less than on SH58. The limit would therefore be 70km/h. c. A speed testing has shown safe and comfortable speed in the range of 40km/h to 70km/h. d. The preference of a majority of locals in 2014 was for a 60km/h speed limit. e. There is a desire to be consistent in the application of speed limits on rural roads, as well as with regional and national trends in reducing speed limits. 15. Coroglen Rise is a similar road to Airlie Road, being a low volume rural road with a speed limit of 60km/h, and therefore 60km/h would be the appropriate speed limit for Coroglen Rise. 16. It is recommended that a public consultation process commences on the proposal to reduce the speed limit on the following roads to 60km/h: Bradey Road; Belmont Road; Flightys Road; Murphys Road; Mulhern Road; Moonshine Road; Harris Road; and Coroglen Rise. 17
17. A joint public consultation with NZTA can be commenced from late March 2018. It would be advertised through the NZTA and PCC websites and Facebook, inviting the general public to attend meetings on 24 and/or 27 March 2018, and to submit their opinion on proposed speed limit changes. NZTA will organise all engagement logistics, engagement material and receive and share submissions. Public consultation will be open from 20 March till 20 April. Recommendations will come back to Council in June 2018. Once approval is obtained from the Council, recommended changes will be implemented in a period of two months. 18. It would be a good practice if all the rural roads in the city have a similar speed limit. The proposed 60km/h speed limit is consistent with the existing 60km/h speed limit on Grays Road, Paekakariki Hill Road and Airlie Road. CONCLUSION 19. It is recommended that the City Delivery Committee approve the commencement of a public consultation process in late March for reducing existing speed limits on rural roads off SH58 and Coroglen Rise off Airlie Road, jointly with NZTA s consultation on SH58 speed limit changes. Report prepared by: Gordana Savic SPECIAL PROJECTS ENGINEER Report approved by: Tamsin Evans CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER 18
SUPPORTING INFORMATION CONTRIBUTION TO COUNCIL'S STRATEGIC DIRECTION A growing, prosperous and regionally connected city. Proposed speed limit changes are aligned with achieving a consistency in the application of speed limits throughout Porirua City and on the regional roading network. FINANCIAL CONSIDERATIONS COST The cost of the consultation activity and subsequent amendments to speed limits will be met from existing budgets. STATUTORY REQUIREMENTS Proposed speed limit changes should follow principles set in the new Land Transport Rule: Setting for Speed Limits 2017 and principles in the Speed Management Guide. TREATY CONSIDERATIONS No Treaty implications have been identified in relation to the issues in this report. SIGNIFICANCE The issues from this report do not trigger the Council s Significance and Engagement Policy. ENGAGEMENT AND COMMUNICATIONS The Speed Management Guide places significant emphasis on engagement and collaboration with local communities and decision-making with local perspective in mind. The Guide s core principles around speed management are consistency and community engagement and understanding. It is proposed Porirua City Council would join NZ Transport Agency in a public consultation process from late March 2018. Public consultation will be open from 20 March till 20 April. Two public meetings will be held on 24 and 27 March 2018. Submissions will be received and shared by NZTA. Recommended amendments to speed limits will be reported back to Council in June 2018. 19