Speed limits on State Highway 33 and State Highway 30 in Bay of Plenty will be reduced.
Photo: NZTA website
The new permanent speed limits through Paengaroa and between Ōkere Falls and Rotokawa Road, will come into effect on 29 June.
The Transport Agency/Waka Kotahi consulted with the local community , and road user groups between August and September last year on safe and appropriate speed limits in an effort to save lives and reduce the number of serious crashes.
The agency's director of regional relationships Steve Mutton said the route was one of the highest risk roads in Bay of Plenty, with five deaths and 26 serious injuries from crashes on between 2009 and 2018.
"While we are making State Highway 33 safer with improvements like wide centrelines and road safety barriers, lower speed limits are needed," Muttons said.
"Human beings are fallible. We all make mistakes, and we will never eliminate crashes, but speed is a factor in every crash and it's the factor that determines whether you are killed, seriously injured, or walk away from a crash unharmed," he said.
"Our priority is to make this road safer so that everyone using it can get where they are going safely and reliably."
The current speed limits vary from 100km/h along the rural open road sections to 70km/h through the rural towns of Paengaroa, Ōkere Falls and Mourea.
The consultation also proposed a variable 60km/h Intersection Speed Zone at the SH30/SH33 Te Ngae Junction. Waka Kotahi is reviewing the feedback received on this and will share a decision at a later date.
These permanent speed limit changes follow engagement with police, the AA, and the Road Transport Forum, and consultation with the public.
From Monday 29 June, the new permanent speed limits are:
- SH33 Paengaroa: From 120m north of Lemon Road to 110m south-west of Partridge Lane. Current speed limit: 70km/h. New speed limit: 60km/h.
- SH33 Ōkere Falls: From 390m north of Trout Pool Road to 1.57km south of Trout Pool Road. Current speed limit:100km/h, 70km/h. New speed limit: 60km/h.
- SH33 Ōkere Falls south to Waipuna Bay: 1.57km south of Trout Pool Road to 703m north-east of Hamurana Road. Current speed limit: 100km/h. New speed limit: 80km/h.
- SH33 Waipuna Bay, through Mourea, to Okawa Bay: From 703m north-east of Hamurana Road to 64m south of Okawa Bay Road. Current speed limit: 70km/h, 100km/h. New speed limit: 60km/h.
- SH33 Okawa Bay to Te Ngae Junction: From 64m south of Okawa Bay Road to the SH33/SH30 intersection. Current speed limit: 100km/h. New speed limit: 80km/h.
- SH30 Te Ngae Junction to Rotokawa Road: From 353m east of the SH33/SH30 intersection to 140m north of Rotokawa. Current speed limit: 100km/h. New speed limit: 80km/h.