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Proposed Speed Limit Changes - Phase Three Proposed Speed Limit Changes - Phase Three

Consultation status: Closed

Project zone: Region-wide

Safe Speeds Programme - Phase Three

Auckland Transport’s (AT) Safe Speeds programme is part of an integrated nationwide road safety strategy (Road to Zero). The outcome is to make Aotearoa's roads safe where no one is killed or seriously injured on our roads.

In Phase three of this programme, AT is proposing to set new permanent speed limits on approximately 1646 roads around Auckland.

AT currently owns and manages around 7,500km of road network. Under the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2017, AT is legally responsible for reviewing speed limits for roads under its control and, where current road speed limits are found to be not safe and appropriate, it must make changes.

If approved, these changes will be made by amendment to AT’s Speed Limits Bylaw 2019 and come into force in November/December 2022– dependent on public feedback, AT Board approval and implementation considerations.

Project overview 

We have reviewed and identified 1646 roads that need new safe and appropriate speed limits.

These roads are:

Around schools: Approximately 980 roads 82 schools around Auckland.

Rural roads: There are 415 rural roads, including areas such as: Waiheke Island, Āwhitu Peninsula, Waitākere, Okura, Stillwater, Waiwera, Whenuapai. 

AT proposes changing 90% of Waiheke Island roads. Watch video on Waiheke Island safe speeds. 

Town centre roads: Speed reductions in Glen Innes, Devonport and Takapuna town centres. Learn more about proposed speed limits in town centres.

Residential roads: Approximately 58 roads in the Manurewa Coxhead Quadrant.

Community requests: Approximately 41 roads, mostly, in Ponsonby and Rodney.

Rural marae: 18 roads near 8 rural marae.

Access the full list of proposed speed limit changes. 

Video: Proposed speed limit changes - Phase Three explained. Watch in New Zealand Sign Language (NZSL).

Learn more about the proposed speed limit changes in the project brochure and interactive map. 

View interactive map

Download project brochure

Benefits of safe speeds

Speed determines whether anyone is killed, injured, or walks away unharmed from a crash. If a pedestrian is hit by a car travelling at 50km/h there’s only a 20% chance they will survive. At 30km/h, the survival rate increases significantly to 90%.  

Proposing safe speed limits will result in a number of benefits:

  • Reduced number of people getting seriously injured or killed on our roads.
  • Potential savings of $4.53m per life saved and $0.5m per injury prevented.
  • Safe walking or cycling trips to school safer for children. 
  • Healthy environmental with lower carbon emissions and improved air quality. 

​Learn more about how safe speeds save lives. 

Reasons for proposed speed limit changes

Unsafe rural roads. Many of the rural roads in this proposal are twisting, have sharp bends and are hilly with narrow unforgiving lanes that pose challenges to even the most experienced drivers. The consequences of small driver errors on such roads can be fatal.

Self-explaining roads. Over 90% of the roads we propose changing the speed limits of are ‘self-explaining roads’ where drivers travel at a lower speed due to the road conditions. In rural areas, this could be due to the road being narrow, windy or hilly. And, in urban areas it could be due to the residential environment and things like speed bumps.

Unsealed roads. Narrow roads with no road markings and poor surface conditions can cause loss of control and leads to crashes on bends and head-on collisions. 

Roads without a centreline. Road markings can significantly improve the safety of roads by giving drivers a better understanding of the road alignment. 

Safe speeds around schools

The internationally recognised safe and appropriate speed in areas with people walking and on bikes, like around schools, is 30km/h. In Auckland, there are over 560 schools with current speed limits that do not make walking, cycling, and scooting appealing modes of transport, both for children and their parents. 

What we are proposing:

  • We are helping to meet the target indicated by the Ministry of Transport to have safe speeds near 40% of Auckland’s schools by 30 June 2024.
  • To do this, we are proposing speed limit changes on roads around 82 schools under Phase Three of the Safe Speeds Programme.

The majority of these 82 schools are located in residential areas where the actual speeds that vehicles travel at (operating speeds) are already low. Therefore, the changes we propose will simply bring the posted speed limit in line with the speed vehicles are already travelling at.

As part of this proposal, we have prioritised the roads which already have road safety engineering measures like speed humps, or they already have low operating speeds and don’t require them. 

View maps of proposed changes around schools

Speed limits around marae

There is a disproportionately high number of Māori road deaths and serious injuries. In 2020 16% of death and serious injury occurred in Māori. Auckland Transport has been working closely with Mana Whenua to understand site specific risks around marae as each marae is unique. There are changes to speed limits proposed for eight roads outside of rural marae in Tāmaki Makaurau.

Join our webinars

Speaking with you face-to-face is important to us. Just turn up at any time during one of our drop-in sessions and our team will be there to answer any questions you may have.

No matter what happens, we will be running online events that will enable you to ask questions directly to the project team. 

Note

Any speed limit requests we receive on roads not included in the current proposal will be taken into consideration as part of any future speed limit changes but cannot be added to this proposal. New permanent speed limits may only be set by way of bylaw following a process of proposal and consultation as required by law (including the requirements under the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2017). Therefore, AT is unable to set new permanent speed limits for roads that have not been proposed for change or consulted on as part of the currently proposed bylaw amendment.

For comments and queries, email us at ATSpeedProgramme@at.govt.nz.