Transport Minister Chris Bishop (file photo). Photo: RNZ / Samuel Rillstone
The new Minister of Transport has opened the door for public consultation on at least some of the speed limit changes the government said would be automatic.
Announcing the changes to speed limits last week, Transport Minister Chris Bishop issued two lists - one containing 49 stretches of state highway where there would be public consultation on whether to up the limits and one of 38 areas that would automatically return to higher speed limits.
At the time, Bishop said, "To ensure this process happens efficiently, over the next few months NZTA will incorporate the automatic speed reversal work alongside planned maintenance and project works."
The changes come as part of a government commitment in the coalition agreement to reversing the reductions put in place under the previous Labour government.
The first increase - on SH2 in the Wairarapa - was put in place on the day the lists were released, the rest were required to be in place by 1 July.
Among those on the latter list were two stretches of SH6 - a 1.8km section through Marybank which is set to rise from 60kmh to 80kmh, and a section of 800m of Whitby Road in Wakefield that will rise to 70kmh.
Parents, local councillors, sustainable transport advocates and opposition MP Rachel Boyack all expressed outrage and concern about the move.
But at a press conference in Nelson on Friday, Bishop appeared to walk back the government's stance on the automatic reversals, telling reporters there would now be public consultation on the Marybank and Wakefield changes.
"NZTA's always had the discretion to engage with local communities and they'll be doing that in relation to those two areas and there's a couple of other examples around the country where there is local support for the speed limits to stay lower."
Bishop said he had asked NZTA to engage with the community on the region's two auto reversals, as well as in "another couple of parts of the country" where there's "strong support for those lower limits."
But the NZTA's speed limit review consultation form for the region - seeking public opinion on seven areas set to rise, those that feature on the list of sections open to consultation - notes that some sections of road, such as SH6 Atawhai/Marybank, were not being consulted on because "the Rule's requirements are that this type of road must automatically reverse without the need for public consultation."
Christopher Luxon and Transport Minister Chris Bishop (file photo). Photo:
Bishop wouldn't be drawn on precisely which of the other automatic reversals will no longer be automatic, but did name check mid-Canterbury town Rakaia, where locals, community advocates, the council and even the new Minister for the South Island, Rangitata MP James Meager, had decried the change.
"There's an area in Rakaia, and I've had correspondence about another couple of areas up North."
Bishop said the issue was a "complicated" one, and he had asked NZTA to add those "particular areas" to the consultation process.
He doubled down on comments the increased speed limits will improve the nation's productivity.
"It's just simple maths, right? If the speed limit goes from 80 to 100, it's quicker to get from A to B? It's just a simple matter of logic.
"It means people can make more trips, it means you're quicker to get home from work, it means you're quicker to get to work, quicker from job to job."
Nelson-based transport planner Bevan Woodward is part of Movement, an alliance of groups - including Grey Power, Living Streets Aotearoa, and the Cycling Action Network - that advocates for safe and accessible active transport.
He rejected the argument that faster speeds will increase productivity, citing the hours and hours of road closures when crashes happen.
The best way to free up traffic was to support "mode shift" - having more people switch to active transport such as walking, cycling and taking public transport, something that's less likely to happen with higher speed limits, which leads to more congestion, more delays and more crashes, he said.
Last month, the group lodged an application for a judicial review of the Transport Minister's decision, claiming the Setting of Speed Limits 2024 rule is inconsistent with the minister's objectives under the Land Transport Act.
The group believes the minister ignored the safety risks of higher speed limits, erred in statements that speed limits didn't impact injuries and fatalities and in comparisons with other countries, failed to consider feedback and took an "unreasonable and perverse" position requiring the reversal of speed limit reductions outside schools.
He said New Zealand has one of the highest road toll death rates in the OECD, and NZTA research shows the majority of New Zealanders support safer speed limits.
Woodward said the NZTA has been very clear the auto reversals would happen automatically, and if the minister was now walking that back, it could require changes to the Speed Rule.
The agency's web pages seeking public consultation on the 49 proposed speed changes have a line at the bottom, acknowledging people "may have views on speed limits not open for consultation" and offering those people an email address to send "feedback".
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