Submission on SH56 Palmerston North to Ōpiki speed review
Feds Manawatu Rangitikei Province has submitted on New Zealand Transport Agency’s proposal to lower the speed limit to 80km/h for the entire 24km stretch of State Highway 56 between Palmerston North and the SH 57 turnoff on the way to Shannon. The NZTA hasn’t done any cost benefit analysis of this reduced speed limit, preferring instead to rely upon NZ-wide traffic safety statistics, and overseas academic literature on traffic safety, as their justification. We say this is not good enough. Without a proper analysis of needs for this stretch of highway, the reduced speed limit is just a lazy way of avoiding spending money on road safety improvements. What’s more, NZTA’s proposal will have a perverse effect of encouraging impatient driver behaviour, with more dangerous overtaking and speeding, especially on other rural roads in the vicinity of SH56 which are not controlled by NZTA.
Our full submission can be reviewed on the right.
Contacts:
Murray Holdaway
Provincial President
Manawatu/Rangitikei Federated Farmers
Peter Matich
Regional Policy Manager
Federated Farmers of New Zealand
027 240 9997
[email protected]