Every street should be audited for speed limits: Local Government experts
How fast is too fast on your local roads? That’s a question that local governments want to answer — and they’re pushing for an audit of every street in South Australia to find out.
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Every council street in SA should be audited for appropriate speed limits and safety measures, a local government group of experts has found.
Council road safety experts have produced the first state-wide policy to help councils become a bigger part of the road safety effort.
LGA president and Mayor of Tumby Bay Sam Telfer said; “Safety audits of their local road networks are an opportunity for councils to identify and prioritise areas for improvement’’.
“Road audits will help councils prioritise work that needs to be undertaken to improve road safety.
“These audits would identify any areas that have become a safety concern and assist to identify the best solutions, which may or may not include changes to speed limits.”
Audits of each street were the major recommendation of the expert group which developed the plan; “It is recognised that a priority action for councils to ensure they are responsible road managers is to undertake road audits to identify and prioritise problem areas’’.
Following the lead of Unley Council 20 years, many councils including Adelaide City Council have tried to reduce 50km/h zones to 40km/h, some facing a public backlash.
By popular demand from residents, Norwood Payneham and St Peters council is the latest to cut the speed limit in parts of the council area for amenity and road safety reasons.
Another major recommendation was for councils to deploy illuminated signs to warn motorists when they are unintentionally speeding.
Mayor Robert Bria said he supported the statewide policy and Transport Minister Stephan Knoll had signed off on the 40km/h plan for Maylands, parts of Stepney, Evandale and The Parade.
It has taken six years to approve the plan for The Parade, and the issue was one many councils were having to deal with, he said.
“There is an increasing amount of pressure on councils to consider local area traffic and speeds, in particular rat running through backstreets,’’ he said.
“Every council is different, but there are many factors increasing traffic flow, like two for one replacement of housing on some blocks.
“Councils can certainly have an impact on local roads.’’
The statewide policy also proposes a crackdown on bad driving in schools zones in each council’s area.
“While councils aren’t responsible for enforcement, they play a role in supporting a safe environment for all road users, including pedestrians in areas that have high traffic volumes such as schools, hospitals, sporting facilitates and shopping centres,’’ Mayor Telfer said.
“Support from councils for SAPOL in its enforcement measures could include community messages about the importance of safe speeds around schools and other high pedestrian facilities.
“Also the use of mobile speed units which advise about speeds even though they don’t enforce, facilitating safer parking around schools with ‘kiss and drop’ areas.
“There should be appropriate on-street parking restrictions, and traffic calming measures to discourage speeding.”
SLOWER STREETS
Unley Council
- First metropolitan council to introduce slower speeds in 1999
- Most local streets and a section of King William Rd are 40km/h.
Charles Sturt Council
- A section of Seaview Rd and the Esplanade near Henley Sq has a 40km/h speed limit. Previous proposals were submitted to lower it to 25km/h.
- About a dozen suburbs in the council area implement 40km/h.
Prospect Council
- A 40km/h zone has been in place in the area bounded by Prospect Rd, Fitzroy Tce, Churchill Rd and Regency Rd since 2000.
Norwood, Payneham & St Peters Council
- Residential streets bordered by Portrush, Payneham and Magill roads will drop from 50km/h to 40km/h.
Adelaide City Council
- Victoria Sq, the western end of Hindley St and designated shared use zones have a speed limit of 30km or lower.
- Calls to lower the default speed limit from 50km/h to 40km/h have been renewed this year for pedestrian safety.
Holdfast Bay Council
- A 10-year plan to revitalise Jetty Rd shopping strip includes slashing the 40km/h speed limit to 30km/h.