NZTA, Tasman District Council drive State Highway 60 speed limit review plans

Tuesday, 10 April 2018

The scene of a three-vehicle crash in January along the Appleby Highway section of State Highway 60.

Plans to look at lowering the speed limit along a stretch of State Highway 60, near Nelson, look likely to include some of its feeder roads.

Tasman District Council transportation manager Jamie McPherson said the council and New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) were running a joint process to review the speed limit of the highway between Three Brothers Corner at Richmond and Maisey Rd as well as some of the highway's associated roads.

It was logical to look at some of the feeder roads so motorists did not turn from the highway with an 80kmh limit and see a 100kmh sign on an associated road, McPherson said.

The move comes after the majority of 95 submissions to a draft Regional Land Transport Plan related to SH60, almost all of which recommended the speed limit on the stretch of highway be lowered to 80kmh. A flood of submissions were received after a spate of crashes on the increasingly busy road.

Julie Anne Genter said she had not read Battersby's comments on social media.

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After some submitters spoke at a hearing in March, the Tasman regional transport committee agreed to recommend NZTA urgently review the speed limit on SH60, with 'priority' given to lowering the speed limit on the section of the highway from Three Brothers Corner to Maisey Rd.

McPherson said the council and NZTA had met since that recommendation and it was hoped a consultation document on the proposed changes could be ready in May.

Mayor Richard Kempthorne says he does not believe the community realises the implications of a no-dam scenario.

The news comes the day after Associate Transport Minister Julie Anne Genter announced at a local government road safety summit in Wellington that the Government would look at introducing a zero road death policy by 2020.

'We need a new [road safety] strategy,' Genter said. 'We need a clear idea of the outcomes we want and the steps we need to take to get there.'

Tasman Mayor Richard Kempthorne was at the summit and said no-one wanted a continuation of the 'horrible crashes' that had occurred.

The question was: 'What are we going to do and what can we actually do to head for the target,' Kempthorne said. 'How can we improve the quality of driving on these roads?'

Impatient drivers could be seen on the highway to Motueka, cellphone use by drivers seemed to be on the rise and the drug P, or methamphetamine, was a 'real issue' in Tasman district. The mayor said he wanted to investigate whether police could be equipped to carry out roadside drug testing.

'I'm going to keep following up on that one,' Kempthorne said.

He hoped to make progress over the next three to six months looking at the issues on Tasman district roads and what safety improvements might fit into a programme nationally.

'We've got to be realistic about the cost and benefit,' he said.

Meanwhile, as part of NZTA's annual minor safety improvements programme, crews are scheduled complete work before winter at some intersections along SH60.

In a statement, NZTA says work is due to start at Pukeko Lane with the installation of a new right-turn bay from the highway. Changes to road surface markings are planned at the Lansdowne Rd and Mapua Drive intersections while a roadside safety barrier is due to be erected near Research Orchard Rd.