Speed limit reversals for State Highway 6, which cumulatively save a motorist travelling through Nelson Tasman about 34 seconds, have sparked anger and surprise across the region.
The reversals, announced on Wednesday, are part of the coalition Government’s commitment to roll back the previous Labour Government’s “blanket speed limit reductions”.
Transport Minister Chris Bishop said the changes would make it easier for people and freight to get from A to B as quickly and efficiently as possible, which will help drive economic growth.
In total, 38 sections of state highway across the country, including two in Nelson Tasman, will have their speed limits automatically reversed by 1 July.
A further 49 sections of the state highway network which saw reductions, including State Highway 6 (SH6) between Nelson and Blenheim, will go out for public consultation for six weeks from Thursday to determine whether they will also increase in speed or remain at their lower level.
North Nelson – Queen Elizabeth II Drive
In Nelson, a 1.8-kilometre coastal stretch of Queen Elizabeth II Drive/SH6 that skirts the northern suburb of Marybank, home to more than 1000 residents, will return to largely 80km/h after it was lowered to 60km/h at the end of 2020.
The change would shave about 27 seconds off travel time.
Nelson’s Labour MP Rachel Boyack slammed the decision, labelling it “ideological nonsense from the National Party”.
“It's outrageous,” she said.
“It's been really clear for that community that they've had significant safety concerns, and that should be the number one priority.”
It should be left to the communities that live an area to determine their speed limits, she said.
Boyack added that the increased safety risk of higher speeds far outweighed the “absolutely miniscule” time saving.
“Road crashes that cause injury and fatalities do not increase productivity or efficiency. In fact, it causes huge heartache for the people involved. It adds cost to our health system, ACC, and when you're stuck in a line of traffic because there's been an accident, that significantly decreases your productivity.”
Clifton Terrace School doesn’t technically adjoin Queen Elizabeth II Drive/SH6 but does lie just two dozen metres from the affected section of highway.
Principal Rob Wemyss was “gobsmacked” the community wasn’t consulted and said locals would not want a return to 80km/h and many actually wanted the speed reduced further.
“This would very much be a backward step,” he said.
“It just doesn't make sense to me. Everyone's got used to the change. Leave it as it is. I suspect there'll be a whole lot of people that will be up in arms about the possible changes.”
He had safety concerns about the speed limit for the school’s pupils and thought that even if a 30km/h variable zone was introduced at starting and finishing time, the drop from 80km/h to 30 wouldn’t be consistently observed by motorists.
“We've got loads of people coming and going from that space, and it makes so much sense to have that speed limit reduce as much as possible.”
James Hodgson, Nelson City Council’s liaison councillor for the Atawhai area, had urged Transport Minsiter Chris Bishop to consider consulting on reverting the speed limit in that area, in a letter sent last week.
The reduction from 80km/h to 60km/h, he said, was targeted rather than part of the blanket speed reductions by the previous government.
However, Nelson Mayor Nick Smith was supportive of the reversal and said the previous government had gone “too far” lowering speed limits, generating “significant backlash”.
As the city’s MP in 2010, he campaigned to reduce that section of highway from 100km/h to 80km/h and believed that was still the appropriate speed for the road.
Raising the 60km/h section back to 80km/h would make the highway more consistent, he argued.
“When you have a stretch of road and the speed limits go up and down over short periods of just a kilometer, it becomes difficult for motorists and awkward for compliance.”
Wakefield – Whitby Road
Another change in the Tasman town of Wakefield has generated less opposition but has left some scratching their heads.
An 800-metre stretch of Whitby Road/SH6 that was lowered to 60km/h in mid-2021 will now return to 70km/h, cutting travel time by about 7 seconds.
The rest of SH6 between Wakefield and Hope, which was also reduced alongside Whitby Road, will not be reversed nor consulted on.
Wakefield Community Council chair Julian Eggers said the 60km/h speed on the edge of the town had now been accepted by the community and raising the limit was “pointless”.
“Is it worth putting a speed limit up for just 800 metres of road?” he asked.
“Other … sections along the state highway, would be more effective in what the Government’s trying to achieve.”
With development ongoing and more proposed for the town in the future, he thought the lower 60km/h limit was reasonable.
Eggers added that he was “surprised” the rest of the SH6 between Wakefield and Hope wasn’t either being reversed on consulted on.
Chair of the regional transport committee and Tasman’s deputy mayor Stuart Bryant lives in Wakefield.
He also thought it was “strange” the that the rest of the reduced section wasn’t being consulted on.
However, he didn’t think the return to 70km/h would be “much of an issue” as the 800-metre stretch was peri-urban.
“I don't think it makes any significant difference one way or the other. Individually, it's not going to make much difference to people.”
Any time saved, he suggested, would probably be consumed at the Richmond traffic lights anyway.
Bryant’s main frustration was that the New Zealand Transport Agency, as directed by the Government, didn’t have to consult on the reversals, whereas Tasman District Council is currently re-consulting on a raft of speed limit changes after being forced to by a new Government rule.
“There’s some inconsistencies in there, between what they have to do and what we’re expected to do.”
Nelson to Blenheim – State Highway 6
Consultation on the possibility of raising the speed limits on SH6 between Nelson’s Atawhai and Marlborough’s Woodbourne generated a more positive reception from the region’s leaders.
Speeds of 100km/h disappeared on the route at the end of 2020 with a mix of 60, 80, and 90km/h limits being installed in their place.
Nelson Mayor Nick Smith said the reductions affecting several long straights on the route were “over the top” but added that some sections, such as through the Whangamoa Hills, were too windy to justify a return to 100km/h.
He also added that he would be advocating for more passing lanes on the route to improve safety and stop frustrated drivers doing unsafe passing maneuvers.
Regional transport committee chair Stuart Bryant also said he wasn’t averse to increasing the speed on the straighter sections, which would improve efficiency.
“The logging industry we're quite concerned about the loss of productivity around when that speed limit was brought in.”
Increased speed limit consistency would also limit driver confusion through the area, he added.
Nelson MP Rachel Boyack was opposed to any speed limit increases around Hira School, and thought many of the speed limits through the winding sections were now at the “naturally safe driving limit”.
But she was also open to some of the 90km/h reverting to 100km/h, provided it was safe to do so and evidence-based.
On SH6 between Nelson and Blenheim, there were four fatal and 12 serious crashes in the 19 months prior to the speed limit being reduced in December 2020.
In the 44 months following the reduction, which includes a seven-week closure after the August 2022 storm, there were just two fatal and five serious crashes.
SH6 between Wakefield and Hope, including the section that will increase again in speed, has seen a 100 per cent decrease in fatal and serious crashes since the speed limit was lowered in July 2021.
