Slower speeds on SH6 could hit consumers in the pocket, truckies say

Thursday, 14 November 2019

Motorist groups opposed to the lowering of the speed limit on State Highway 6 have lost confidence with the NZTA and say they aren't being listened to.

Representatives from NZTA and local transport associations met last week to discuss a proposal to make the road from Blenheim to Nelson safer. As part of its review NZTA is proposing reducing the speeds between the two towns from 100kmh to 80kmh.

Two days after submissions to review closed NZTA says it has counted 800 submissions, with many organisations handing in joint feedback on behalf of thousands of members.

The Road Transport Association NZ (RTNZ), NZ Trucking Association and the NZ Automobile Association (AA) met with NZTA to discuss their concerns about the proposed changes to the road before putting in a submission.

RTNZ and NZ Trucking Association spokesman John Bond said 'everybody was fired up yet respectful' but after the 90 minute meeting felt 'like we weren't being listened to'.

'We don't mind compromising on some of the areas on SH6 which is part of school or buildup areas, but there is a lot of area that don't need changing at all,' said Bond.

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The RTNZ and NZ Trucking Association made a joint submission which said; 'the reasons given for such a blanket change' in the speed limit were 'misleading and needs to be challenged'.

It said its members who made multiple trips a day on the stretch of road were advising it would take an extra two hours in driving time to do the same business. This created the possibility that the cost of goods and services might increase.

Bond said it did not mind 'compromising on some of the areas on SH6 which is part of school or built-up areas, but there is a lot of areas that don't need changing at all'.

'Most of the crashes that were shown to us by NZTA were not speed related.'

The AA, which has more than 41,000 individual membership in top of South Island, also said in its submission it felt the information NZTA had given the public was wrong.

Its submission read; 'for the public to base their submissions on misinformation is deceitful and unacceptable, and will provide the consultation with skewed answers'.

It said it was wrong for NZTA to say reducing the speed limit to 80kmh between Blenheim and Nelson would increase the journey by just nine minutes. AA said its members had tested the journey in trucks and cars. Car journeys took 'considerably longer' at 80kmh and truck drivers would possibly have to reduce their number of trips from four to three a day due to the extra time it would take at a lower speed.

The Marlborough Chamber of Commerce (MCOC) also submitted against the proposed speed reduction.

MCOC chief executive Hans Neilson said the chamber had 'the view that information provided in the consultation document does not accurately reflect the extent of impact of the proposed changes and has the potential to skew submissions'.

'The concerning thing about the proposed speed drop is that there is so many unexpected consequences that aren't even referenced in the consultation document.'

Renwick Transport owners L-R Jen Hall, Jacky Smith, strongly oppose the speed limit drop on SH6.

SH6 approaching Havelock from the West, could soon see the speed limit cut to 80kmh.

Neilson said the blanket speed reduction will 'conveniently cost the central government the least but is going to cost all of us a lot more.'

He said based on the degree to which Marlborough was serviced out of Nelson there was likely to be unexpected economic consequences that would increase the cost of good and services between the two hubs.

'Unfortunately we have already seen reduction in air servicing in the region so roading is the main infrastructure we have, so another hit on that is really bad news for our business and for all of us,' Neilson said.

'It's entirely feasible to suggest that better safer conditions can be brought about through investment and safer road and infrastructure, driver education, which will also bring economic advantage to the region,' he said.