30 August 2019

Christchurch City Council and the NZ Transport Agency are seeking public feedback on the speed limits on roads in and around Yaldhurst.

“There have been a high number of crashes on SH73 in the Yaldhurst area, including one person killed and five people seriously injured in the last ten years,” says Transport Agency Director Regional Relationships Jim Harland.

The Yaldhurst area has also seen a lot of development, both commercial and residential, and more pedestrians, especially around the intersection of SH73 and Sir John MacKenzie Avenue.

Mr Harland says the Transport Agency has had a lot of feedback from the local community that they wanted speeds lowered in the area.

"In addition to investing in safer roads and roadsides and promoting safer driving and safer vehicles, lowering travel speeds on some of our high-risk sections of road will help both reduce crashes and the severity of those crashes that do occur. Even small reductions in speeds can greatly reduce the likelihood of a crash happening, while increasing the chances of people surviving them if they do," Mr Harland says.

The Transport Agency is consulting on extending the existing 60km/h zone on SH73 an additional 740 metres westwards to include the signalised intersection at Sir John MacKenzie Avenue. It’s also proposing to reduce the existing 70km/h section to 60km/h in Yaldhurst Village and reducing the current 100km/h zone to 80km/h zone from Yaldhurst Village to just past Old West Coast Road.

Christchurch City Council is consulting on the speeds on Ryans and Pound Roads, as well as Hasketts and School Roads. It’s proposed the speeds for these roads will reduce from 70km/h or 80km/h to 60km/h.

“Improving the safety of the road network is a critical issue for the Council. We’re proposing these changes to reduce speeds at approaches to high risk intersections and maintain consistency of speed limits across the joint road network,” says Richard Osborne, Head of Transport at Christchurch City Council.

“The Council is also investigating improvements to the Ryans and Pound Road intersection, which has become much busier given it’s now a popular route for commuters heading to work in the airport area.”

If approved, the proposed speed limit reductions at this intersection would be installed in advance of any other improvements as the dropping the speed limit is a safety measure that can have an immediate impact.

The two consultations have been combined so that people wanting to make submissions on both State Highway 73 (the responsibility of the Transport Agency) and local roads (the responsibility of the Council) can do so at the same time.

Public consultation on the proposed speed limits runs from 2 – 30 September 2019.
More information is available, and feedback can be provided via:

The Council’s online electronic form at: https://ccc.govt.nz/haveyoursay/
A hard copy submission form: available at Council Civic Offices 53 Hereford Street or the Hornby Library

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