Subscribe to RSSSpeed Cut On SH2 Crash Area
Part of the dangerous section of SH2 near Pokeno and Mangatarata is to have its 100k speed limit lowered.
This area has a history of fatal and serious injury crashes.
NZTA confirms today it made this decision after consultation with the local community and interested parties.
Speed limits will reduce from 100km/h to 90km/h along the majority of the 32km stretch of State Highway 2 between the SH1/2 interchange near Pokeno and the SH2/25 intersection near Mangatarata.
The exceptions will be the 6.2km Mangatawhiri Deviation, which will remain at 100km/h, and 1.8km through the Maramarua township where there will be no change to the 70km/h speed limit.
Improvements to signs and pavement markings will be made through the Maramarua township area.
They'll no doubt be watching if vehicles cut their speed
The speed limit changes will come into effect from December 16 in time for the busy holiday season when traffic volumes on SH2 nearly double to near 24,000 vehicles per day.
7 Comments
What happened to NZTA’s announcement two months ago that it would be 80km/h (not 90) and 60km/h through Maramarua (not 70)?
See http://www.bettertransport.org.nz/forum/viewtopic.php?f=8&t=2913&p=88783&hilit=maramarua+80#p88783
What we need in that area is average speed camera which take a photo as you enter the area, and one on exit to measure your average speed through the said area. From there, the speed limit could be altered to suit the weather and traffic conditions.
Geoff, having submitted on it, I wondered about that as well. They obviously got cold feet and/or too much hostility to the idea of dropping it more than 10 km/h.
Mind you, 10 m/h does give a significant statistical improvement, but 20 km/h would have had much MORE THAN TWICE the safety effect of a 10 km/h reduction, and since they originally proposed it, they obviously considered it defendable from a safety point of view. Sad they didn’t have the spine.
ingolfson, if what you say is correct, it makes me wonder why speed limits are not lowered in general… I once had to drive Welly to Palmy at 80km/h (a journey of ~2 hr) to my surprise, it only added about ten minutes to the journey, and saved a boatload in fuel. If time savings are so minimal, and safer (i.e. new) roads come with hefty pricetags, why is the speed limit not simply lowered on existing roads? I think the spine you mentioned might have something to do with it.
These kinds of adhoc changes are annoying and will generate ill-will as people are pinged by speed cameras.
Either make the entire route from Bombays to Hamilton 80k, or not, but don’t have bits and pieces that are 90, 80, or 100.
The obvious exceptions are speeds going through townships, which should be 50k. I wouldn’t like cars speeding through my town if I lived in one, so I respect others and don’t speed through theirs. It’s polite.
Chris that is nonsense
Drive according to the speed limit or the road conditions.
There is nothing wrong with having variable speed limits - it makes sense.
Guys I have driven this route many times and even before the road improvements it was never dangerous, the fact is the road is and was capable of carrying 24000 vehicles per day in safety. Like everything else in life the rules get changed because of the actions of a few idiots, and it must be said that every fatal “accident” was caused by some idiot. That idiot may or may not have been killed in the crash. However the new Mangatawhiri deviation is a damned good road and nice to drive on, even with the 90km/h speed limit, Tim is absolutely right, trip time is only slightly increased and fuel savings are significant, however there is still one major flaw in this. Some idiots will still drive unnecessarily slower than the limit thus holding up everyone else then as if to prove it was unnecessary they speed up to 100 in passing lanes just make sure they hold us up again. Why not keep the limit at 90 in the left lane and 100 in the passing lane and paint it on the road so there’s no excuse for this kind of inconsiderate behaviour.