Of the 785 who had written to the district council, 48 had asked to speak to their submissions, and Mayor Sandra Hazlehurst said she was pleased with the input.
"This is a very high number of submissions and reflects the effort we have undergone to get the message out. We are very much looking forward to hearing submissions and then making a decision on the best way forward.
"This is a community driven initiative, with members of the public interested in road safety asking us to investigate the issue. We are now up to the stage of deliberation and want to assure everyone that all submissions will be taken into account."
In 2013 and 2014, the council conducted a review of speed limits along 78km of roads deemed dangerous hot spots, where there were regular crashes.
Several roads had speed limits cut from 100km/h to 80km/h, but public outcry over lack of consultation, and increased travel times that would result, led to the return to the 100km/h limit for most roads.
Farndon Rd was one where the 100km/h limit was restored, and there had since been several fatal crashes along that route, the council said.
This time the consultation was extensive, including letters to all properties (and registered owners) of affected roads and adjoining side roads, letters to key stakeholders, radio and written publications advertisements and signs on the affected routes highlighting the proposed consultation.
General comments in favour of reduced speeds along the roads under consideration included: Reduced speed was key to reduced accidents; the roads were too narrow with too many intersections and driveways to operate safely at 100kmh; young inexperienced drivers couldn't drive these roads at 100kmh; safety of drivers and passengers should be the overriding factor in setting speed limits; speeds needed to be reduced due to more cyclists on the roads and that reduced speeds would make it safer for pedestrians.
Comments from those against speed reductions included: The current speed limits were working fine; the issue was old cars in need of repair; different speed limit areas increased confusion and people didn't know what speed they should be travelling; improved road quality instead of reducing speeds; the number of crashes compared with the amount of traffic was minimal; it was not the speed limit – it was the drivers.
As well as giving feedback on the proposals, submitters also suggested 25 other sites where speed limits could be reviewed.
Of those, submitters asked that 22 be considered for speed reductions and three for speed limit increases.
The council said although those requests could not be considered as part of this process, the list would form the basis of a further report to council.
If a decision was made to consider changes on those routes, full consultation would again be undertaken.
The hearing will be held in the council chambers from 9am this Friday, with oral submissions expected to take until about 3pm.
