FAQ

As the local road controlling authority Council is responsible for reviewing and setting speed limits on all local roads in the district. Council conducts speed limit reviews approximately every three years. The last review took place during 2017/2018. 

Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency review and set speed limits for all state highways across Aotearoa. 

Local roads
These are reviewed for a number of reasons including: 

• in response to public submissions or feedback 
• to align local speed limits with national standards 
• in response to serious or increased vehicle crashes 
• formalising speed limits not previously gazetted 

State Highways
Waka Kotahi are reviewing speed limits to make sure they are safe and appropriate for the road. When speeds are safe for the road, simple mistakes don’t need to end in tragedy. 

A small change in speed can make a big difference. Most crashes are caused by a few contributing factors. Even when speed doesn’t cause the crash, it is most likely to determine whether anyone is killed, injured, or walks away unharmed. Speed also reduces the opportunity to react to a mistake, yours or someone else’s – the faster you are travelling, the less time you have.

The introduction of safer speed limits is part of Road to Zero 2020-30, the Government’s road safety strategy, and aligns with the safe system approach, which acknowledges that even responsible people sometimes make mistakes when driving, and aims to minimise the impact of those errors.

Any proposal to drop speed limits is driven by the need to improve safety and reduce harm for everyone on our roads. It will help ensure that in coming years we do not have thousands of people dealing with a road tragedy, which could have been prevented or the harm minimised had people been driving at a slower speed.

Local roads
Waka Kotahi is looking to phase out all 70km/h speed limits. Council has included consideration of local roads with a current 70km/h speed limit within this review to ensure the local transport network is aligned with the State Highway network across Aotearoa. 

Following the Rural School Road Safety Review undertaken in 2020, consideration is also being given to appropriate speeds around rural schools.  The remaining proposed changes are in response to feedback from the community since the previous review, developments in the nearby area and the need for formalisation of speed limits for non-gazetted roads.  

State Highways
State Highway 5 and State Highway 30, Rotorua Old Taupō Road/Hemo Road Roundabout, were identified as a high risk roads. Between 2009 and 2018, there were 629 crashes, six people were killed and 26 were seriously injured on these roads. We need to do something to turn this around.

Waka Kotahi is working across Aotearoa to make the State Highway network safer and part of that work is reducing speeds. Waka Kotahi has talked with Council, local residents, community groups, businesses and other road user industry groups – during these discussions people told Waka Kotahi that the current speeds on State Highway 5 and State Highway 30 are unsafe and need to be lowered. Feedback also showed that people would like to see more consistency in speed limits across the district.

Local roads
Contractors carry out the review on behalf of Rotorua Lakes Council in accordance with the ‘NZ Speed Management Guide’ published by Waka Kotahi. Each road has been reviewed on its individual merit and then a proposed speed limited has been determined. 

In reviewing speed limits on the roads under consideration, the following factors have been considered:

• Function e.g. arterial, primary collector, access, etc
• Appropriate speed evaluated in accordance with guidelines
• Actual measured speeds
• Any requirement for engineered intervention
• Impact and consistency with wider network

In recommending speed limits, a common sense approach has also been applied i.e. road lengths have been considered and where appropriate on adjacent roads, existing limits recommended for change.

State Highways
When Waka Kotahi undertake a speed review, we start with a technical assessment which takes into account crash history, average vehicle speeds, volume of vehicles on the road and development of surrounding areas. We also complete informal community and road user engagement, which is an important step for speed reviews. Engagement helps us get feedback and local knowledge on how people use the road and their concerns. This helps when deciding if a speed limit change is the best thing to do to improve road safety, where new speed limits might begin or end, and if any other safety improvements might be needed. The feedback gained from the engagement phase will help us determine if and what the proposed speed limit changes will be formally consulted on. Once we have completed the formal consultation, we then analyse the submissions, our technical data and then we’re able to determine the outcome for any speed limit changes.

More information on the speed review process can be found here: www.nzta.govt.nz/safety/our-vision-of-a-safe-road-system/safe-network-programme/speed-management/deciding-speed-limits/

Local roads
Public feedback closes on Wednesday 21 April 2021. Once all feedback has been collected and reviewed, a report will be provided to elected members for decision at a Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee meeting. Submitters will also be given an opportunity to speak to their submission at a formal hearing with Rotorua Lakes Council elected members. The next steps include a recommendation to the Full Council by the Strategy, Policy & Finance Committee.  Depending on the outcome of the Full Council meeting, any changes will be implemented in the following months. 

State Highways
Changing speed limits is a legal process and all speed reviews undertaken by Waka Kotahi are developed and delivered in line with the Speed Management Guide and the Setting of Speed Limits Rule.

There are numerous steps we need to carefully follow once we have completed the analysis of the consultation submissions, and our technical review.

After a decision has been made for State Highway 5 and State Highway 30, Rotorua Old Taupō Road/Hemo Road Roundabout speed review, and all the necessary steps and documentation have been completed, the outcome of the speed review will be announced. As part of the speed review outcome announcement, stakeholders will be informed of the decision. 

2021 Proposed Speed Limit Bylaw Amendments