He said it would take away some of the hassles of changing road speed limits by removing the legal bylaw change requirement – consultation with the public would still be an integral component of the process to ensure the public was involved.
Under the changes, Waka Kotahi would hold the register of all the speed limits.
That new rule was meant to be approved by Cabinet by the end of this year, but due to lockdown, may be delayed.
Featonby said the council had to come up with a plan detailing what it was going to do in regards to speed limits in the district.
As part of the speed management plan, it would be reviewing school speed limits.
"Over the next three years we hope to engage with all the schools, talk them through what we're hoping to do."
Then it would be a matter of figuring out what sort of signs were required.
"We'll be knocking on some doors, talking to school principals and making sure that what we end up putting up works for them."
Some of the suggestions for the plan were to reduce speed limits on rural roads to 60km/h and in more built-up areas to 80km/h.
Featonby said in small towns like Dannevirke, the suggestion was for the speed limit to be reduced to 30km/h along the main street – in Dannevirke's case, High St.
A suggestion is to reduce speed limits in High St.
But local retailers have not reported any concerns to the Dannevirke Chamber of Commerce.
Suresh Patel, of Shires Fruit & Vege Market, said he had not heard of any issues.
He said drivers were generally good in High St and truck drivers did tend to be more cautious.
A reduction in the speed limit would depend on how far the zone would be, but around the central business district would be an option to consider, he said.
Featonby said on any given day there were a lot of trucks coming through, as well as many pedestrians, so he thought the suggestion was a sensible one.
The rest of the township could be 40km/h or 50km/h, with some crossover around schools, which could see a limit of 40km/h.
Waka Kotahi is also planning a review of speed limits on State Highway 2.
Linda Stewart, director of regional relationships, said the review would be for the highway between Woodville and Norsewood.
"We are in the early stages of the speed review and are currently undertaking the technical assessment of the corridor.
"We expect to engage with stakeholders and the community in late 2022."
Featonby said one of the suggestions for the highway was to drop the limit to 80km/h.
"Which is fine, but if we don't do our roads as well, then people will just divert down our roads to be driving at 100km/h.
"We need to work closely with Waka Kotahi to ensure we have a consistent approach for our district."
He said Oxford Rd in Woodville was a good example of that happening, especially since the closure of the Manawatu Gorge.
Drivers had started taking Oxford Rd, bypassing Woodville, but the risk of using such side roads, especially at 100km/h, was potentially more accidents.
The plan will take about three years to put together, although the council will be consulting with schools and the public before the plan is completed.
