City of Darwin cuts speed limits on Nightcliff Rd, Rapid Creek Rd to 50km/h
Darwin has cut speed limits on key roads from 60km/h to 50km/h despite commuter concerns, with a councillor claiming the change will save lives.
The City of Darwin has reduced speed limits on the remaining sections of Nightcliff Rd and Rapid Creek Rd from 60 km/h to 50 km/h.
The change, which took effect on December 8, brings both roads into line with the city’s default 50 km/h limit.
It comes more than a year after the council moved a motion calling for the changes and for speed limit reductions around other market and shopping precincts to be investigated.
Darwin councillor Ed Smelt, the motion’s author, told the NT News the change was about “making streets safer” and allowing locals to “feel more comfortable to walk, ride or spend time in our neighbourhoods”.
While some have argued there was “no need” to change the speed limits, others have lauded the change.
Addressing concerns raised about travel times, Mr Smelt said the difference would be “negligible” for commuters.
“People have raised an issue around travel times by lowering the speed limit from 60-50 km/h,” he said.
“The key thing is that on these local streets, the travel time you’re saving is absolutely negligible.
“But the impact if you get hit by a car at 60km/h compared to 50 km/h, that makes a real difference.”
Mr Smelt said he would pursue “safer speed limits” around busy shopping districts, including Nightcliff Shopping Centre, Parap Markets, Rapid Creek Markets and the Malak Markets.
He added this wasn’t about “going around and whacking random speed limits all over the place”, but “making our roads and our footpaths safer”.
“You can build pedestrian traffic lights or traffic islands for hundreds of thousands of dollars – but in terms of cost effectiveness, changing the speed limit is low cost and beats anything else,” he said.
According to the original notice of motion from April 2024, the estimated total cost associated with lowering the speed limits of the Chan Ward roads ranged from $30,000 to $70,000, depending on how many signs were changed.
Mr Smelt said he hoped the changes would encourage more people to walk and cycle.
A policy brief by the Menzies School of Health Research said the odds of a pedestrian crash resulting in a death on NT roads increases by 3.3 per cent for every 1km/h over the designated road speed.
The brief concluded that reducing speed limits in areas of high pedestrian traffic would have a great impact on preventing or reducing the severity of a crash in the NT, where pedestrian crashes account for 23.1 per cent of road fatalities compared to 13.7 per cent nationally.
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Originally published as City of Darwin cuts speed limits on Nightcliff Rd, Rapid Creek Rd to 50km/h
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