Central city speed limits set for Napier council decision

Parts of Napier, where go-karts used to race, are now heading for speed-limit cuts, to be discussed at a council meeting on Tuesday. Photo / File

Napier City Council is being asked to lower city centre speed limit despite an outcry and opposition from as many as two-thirds who spoke up on the issue.

The recommendation has been made by staff in reports for a full council meeting to be held next Tuesday, stemming from public consultation earlier this year on speed limit cuts across the city.

Of 693 responses on the proposal for the maximum allowable speed in the CBD to drop to 30km/h, 61.6 per cent were opposed.

Based on feedback over the last three years and in the consultation, a schedule of speed reductions is recommended for more than 40 streets and roads, from the CBD to a string of rural roads headed for a halving of the limits from 100km/h to the urban setting of 50km/h.

Among them are Eriksen and Kenny Rds in and out of the rapidly growing Te Awa residential area.

There are recommendations for cuts from 50km/h to either 30 or 40km/h in urban school zones, and among stretches with recommendation for a cut from 100km/h to 80km/h are the Sandy and Brookfields Rds from Meeanee to the one-lane Brookfields Bridge, on the southern side of which the Hastings District Council already has an 80km/h limit.

The cost of implementing changes has been estimated at $150,000 including the consultation material and changes to signage, currently budgeted for the 2021-2022 financial year and about half subsidised by Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency.