City of Campbelltown votes to consult on 40km/h speed limit on residential streets

More and more sections of a major Aussie city are moving to a 40 km/h speed limit on the road, with one key reason underpinning the move.

Another council in a major Australian city will explore reducing speed limits on its roads, with public safety a key reason for the potential change.

Councillors with the City of Campbelltown, which encompasses Adelaide’s northeastern suburbs, voted on Tuesday night to consult on pulling back the limit from 50km/h to 40km/h on some residential streets as part of a larger transport management plan.

The proposed zone includes the streets west of Lower North East Rd and south of Darley Rd.

Campbelltown Mayor Jill Whittaker OAM said improving public safety had propelled the idea.

“Our vision in Campbelltown is for a safe, sustainable vibrant community,” she told NewsWire on Wednesday.

“We are looking at this through that lens, so if this makes people safer, then of course I support it.”

The council will now survey public opinion on the idea, with a report expected back within six months at the latest.

“We’ll find out what people think,” Ms Whittaker said.

“It will depend on whether people agree that’s a good thing or not.”

The City of Campbelltown in Adelaide will consult with ratepayers on reducing speed limits on some of its residentials roads to 40km/h. Picture: NewsWire / Damian Shaw

The Royal Automobile Association of South Australia has already backed the change in a submission to the council.

“RAA supports evidence-based setting of speed limits in line with the safe system approach to road safety,” the motoring body said in its submission.

“As an example, 40km/h local streets can contribute to safer and more welcoming neighbourhoods, with negligible impact to traffic flow and travel times.”

There have been two fatalities and 19 serious injuries in crashes in Campbelltown between 2014 and 2023, RAA data shows.

“Similar to council-maintained roads and intersections, the number of minor injury crashes has decreased across the past 10 years, whereas the number of high severity crashes resulting in fatal and serious injury has slightly increased in recent years,” the RAA states.

Data from Austroads on survivability rates suggests a dramatic decline in fatality risks when speed limits are knocked back from 50km/h.

The proposed zone includes the streets west of Lower North East Rd and south of Darley Rd in Adelaide’s northeast. Picture: Supplied

At an impact speed of 50km/h, the percentage risk of death is pegged at 80 per cent, but this drops to 32 per cent at 40km/h.

If the change is implemented, Campbelltown would follow other metropolitan Adelaide councils that have implemented reductions, including Burnside, Prospect, Onkaparinga, Norwood Payneham and St Peters and Unley.

The City of Adelaide, which takes in the CBD and affluent North Adelaide, is exploring a 30km/h limit.

Norwood Payneham and St Peters, which borders Campbelltown, moved to 40km/h in April, with whole sections of the council area now rezoned.

The vote on Tuesday night covered the northern section of Campbelltown.

The transport plan for the southern section of the area was approved in 2020.