Whanganui's Pickwick Road residents say new speed signs have to go

The new 100km/h sign at the entrance to Pickwick Rd, with the pedestrian sign in the background. Photo / Mike Tweed

Residents of Pickwick Rd, a small side road off State Highway 3 near Whanganui, were shocked to find 100km/h signs erected near its entrance just before Christmas.

New reduced speed limits along SH3 at Westmere came into effect on December 18, with the Pickwick Rd turn-off within the highway's new 80km/h zone.

Pickwick Rd resident Gregor Vallely said it was "stupidity" to have the signs in place, especially as there was another sign warning of pedestrians only 30 metres past them.

"There are quite a few houses up here now, and you'll be coming off a very wide road with very few houses and driveways along it, on to a residential road that says 100km/h," Vallely said.

"[Pickwick Rd] is a narrow, country road with no footpaths and no streetlights. I walk the dog on it and I mow my frontage on it with two blind corners and they put a jolly 100km/h sign at the bottom. To me, it's just dangerous.

"If there is going to be a sign there, it should be 50km/h."

Gregor Vallely says the speed limit along Pickwick Rd should be 50km/h at the most. Photo / Mike Tweed

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency is responsible for speed limits on national highways, while local roads fall under the jurisdiction of Whanganui District Council.

Whanganui district councillor Alan Taylor said council officers had looked at the situation and would "probably" propose a speed limit reduction on both Pickwick Rd and adjoining Dickens Lane for the council's consideration early in the new year.

Taylor said it would take around six months for any potential changes to come into effect.

"If council says 'okay' we'll run with that proposal," Taylor said.

"It will go out for public consultation, and if there are submissions they will be heard. Council will deliberate on it and make a decision.

"My expectation is that it [the speed limit] will drop, but we have to listen to any submissions first. If it does drop to 50km/h or 80km/h, and when the recommendation is passed by council, it then has to go to Government to be gazetted. When it's gazetted then the limit will change."

Whanganui District councillor Alan Taylor. Photo / Bevan Conley

Taylor said because council officers would recommend the change themselves, there would be no need for a public petition on the matter.

"This will be a little quicker, and it takes that initial step of public concern out of the process.

"Currently the signs are owned and maintained by NZTA. Council can't just make a decision and remove them. There's a legally required process to go through."

Bob Walker, who lives on Dickens Lane, installed three of his own "recommended speed" signs in the area a few years ago.

He said the chances of someone being injured or killed in the six months it would take to get the signs removed were "pretty high".

"I'm worried about my wife and my friends who could get bloody maimed by people going 100km/h. It wouldn't just be some young idiot either, because any law-abiding citizen can look at the signs and think 'okay'," Walker said.

"A friend of mine did 70km/h along there, just to see what it was like, and he said it was 'hair raising'.

"When there's a fatal accident out here, it's going to go and bite them [Whanganui District Council]."

Bob Walker's "recommended speed" sign on the corner of Dickens Lane and Pickwick Rd. Photo / Bob Walker

Hinemoa Ransom-Boyd, who lives on the corner of Pickwick Rd and SH3, said she was puzzled as to why the signs had suddenly appeared.

"I don't think they need to be there at all, they should just come out altogether," Ransom-Boyd said.

"Whatever [speed] people do naturally, let them do that."

Ransom-Boyd said Walker's speed signs had been a good idea.

"We've got this 600 by 600cm board already up by the road because we had a missing cat.

"He's come back, thank goodness, so I think we'll use the same sign to repeat that [recommended speed] message."

Ross I'Anson, Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency system manager for Manawatu/Whanganui, said because highways were where most serious road crashes happened, it was important to "get those changes in place first and then follow up with the side road consistency".

"We are working closely with district councils to ensure consistency across the highway and local road networks as new speed reduction areas come into force across the country," I'Anson said.

"Waka Kotahi's contractor installed the new 100km/h signs on the adjoining Pickwick Rd given the recent change of speed to 80km/h on SH3 and the need for people to be aware of the legal limit on this adjoining road.

"There may be some changes to local road speeds still to come to ensure consistency with the state highway; however, not all these changes could be completed in time for the state highway reduction."

l'Anson said NZTA would work with Whanganui District Council in 2021 to "address remaining issues".