Early next year Hamiltonians can share their thoughts on whether the speed limit on a section of Wairere Drive should be reduced to enable a new supermarket development in the city’s northwest.

At an Extraordinary Meeting of Hamilton City Council yesterday (Tuesday 3 December), Elected Members agreed to public consultation on a proposal to reduce the speed on Wairere Drive, between Pukete Road and Arthur Porter Drive, from 80km/h to 60km/h. The reduction is a requirement of a resource consent to support a PAK’nSAVE supermarket development in Te Rapa.

Council previously consulted on, and approved, the speed limit change on this stretch of road in 2021, but it wasn’t due to formally change until the supermarket development got under way. A recent change to Government rules around speed limits requires Council to revisit this decision in consultation with the community.

Deputy Mayor and Chair of the Infrastructure and Transport Committee Angela O’Leary urged Hamiltonians to consider the economic benefits the supermarket will bring, not just the change in speed.

“A new supermarket in the northwest will bring massive social and economic benefits to our city. It not only means new jobs during construction and when it opens but creates better access to food and fuel for the community.

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“But we also need to make sure people can still access the area safely. We know that part of Te Rapa is already busy and is a key access to many businesses and for people travelling through the area.”

To do this, a condition of the supermarket’s consent requires traffic lights to be installed at the intersection of Wairere Drive and Karewa Place, allowing a right turn into (but not out of) Karewa Place from Wairere Drive. To help manage speeds into the intersection the reduction in speed is required.

Council’s data shows the average travelling speeds on this 1.2km section of Wairere Drive are currently around 62km/h, indicating that reducing the speed limit to 60km/h would have minimal impact on travel time in this area.

Deputy Mayor O’Leary said if the speed limit is not reduced the supermarket would not be able to go ahead under its current resource consent.

“We received strong feedback from the community when we last consulted that they did not support a reduction in speed in this area. I want to make sure the community have all the information and can make an informed submission when this out for consultation next year.”

The community will be invited to share their feedback between 24 January and 7 March 2025. More information and details about how to make a submission will be available closer to the time.

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