State Highway 6 through Marybank in northern Nelson will remain at 60km/h after the community rallied to keep the lower speed limit, much to the relief of locals.
The New Zealand Transport Agency confirmed the decision yesterday afternoon.
The 1.8km section of SH6/Atawhai Dr was slated to return to a mix of 80 and 100km/h speeds as part of the Coalition Government’s automatic reversals of Labour-era speed limit reductions.
The change would have saved 13 seconds of travel time.
But a massive grassroots campaign, led by local parents, opposed the changes and eventually prompted Transport Minister Chris Bishop to backpedal, asking NZTA to engage with the community.
NZTA subsequently undertook a targeted review of that specific stretch of highway which has now resulted in the speed limit remaining unchanged from 60km/h.
Parents for Active Transport Atawhai member Femke Meinderts has been driving the ‘Keep it 60’ campaign. She said she was “very relieved” after hearing the announcement.
“We’re really happy for the kids, I feel like this is partly their victory as much as it is the community’s, and we know this is the right thing for them. But relief is the word, because we just didn’t really know what was going to happen.”
Keeping the existing speed limit achieved widespread support, with 76% of submitters saying the lower speed had positive impacts.
“The community actually really does care about kids getting to school safely and actively. That’s been awesome, but it’s also been a lot of hard work,” Meinderts said.
Nelson’s Labour MP Rachel Boyack was “delighted and relieved” the road was staying at 60km/h.
“This is a good decision today, but we shouldn’t even have been put in this position. It has led to a lot of frustration and a lot of wasted money.”
She echoed previous comments from Mayor Nick Smith that speed limits had become too politicised.
“We have to make good decisions based on good evidence, not people’s reckons. I think there are lessons to be learned for everybody about how these reviews are conducted.”
Smith said the Atawhai community should “take a bow” for their effective campaign.
“It’s not easy to reverse a government decision, but they have been successful. I’m pleased that the government has listened.”
He added that speed limits were a “localised issue” and the “right decisions” could only be made by looking at each section of highway’s unique circumstances.
That was echoed by Nelson’s Atawhai liaison councillor James Hodgson, a self-professed advocate of taking a “thoughtful and bespoke approach” to policy.
He said the issue was the result of two successive governments making “big blanket” changes to speed limits but was pleased to see a “common sense” decision had been made.
“I’m stoked to see that a community had a concern, and they raised it, and a good outcome was achieved. That’s the best you can hope for.”
Chairperson of the region’s joint transport committee, Tasman’s deputy mayor Stuart Bryant was “pleased” by the result for Marybank and acknowledged the efforts of the community.
“Their voices have well and truly been heard.”
But Marybank wasn’t the only section of SH6 in the region that had been facing an increase in speed.
An 800-metre stretch of Whitby Road in northern Wakefield, about 20km south of Nelson, will also stay at 60km/h after it had been slated to return to 70km/h.
That change would have saved three seconds of time.
Feedback on retaining that 60km/h speed was mixed, with 49% of submitters saying the lower speed had positive impacts, but NZTA opted to keep the lower speed.
The agency noted that the lower speed made it easier for residents to cross the road, and that a 60km/h limit mitigated safety hazards well in an area that had shifted from rural to residential.
Bryant, who lives in Wakefield, additionally said he had “no issues” with the retention of the slower speed.
“People are well used to that… people can feel confident coming in and out of their driveways.”
Wakefield Community Council chairperson Julian Eggers said NZTA had made the “right decision”.
“The community is going to start growing soon, so there’ll be more cars on the road. It’s more of a safety concern.”
He added that the work involved to make the change didn’t match the small effects for a short stretch of road.
“To put the speed up for that and change the signs and all… the costs that are involved for that – it doesn’t make sense.”
But even though the speed limits won’t change, Nelson parent Femke Meinderts and Parents for Active Transport Atawhai will continue campaigning for safety improvements in their area.
“We’re not done. This was never really a fight we wanted to fight anyway; we’re glad that we won, but we want to keep going with what we originally really were trying to fight for, which was just overall improvements in safety for the pedestrians and cyclists,” she said.
“We’d hate to see the Government and our local authorities sort of sitting back now and thinking they’ve done all they can, because they really haven’t.”
Like the two sections in Marybank and Wakefield, NZTA undertook targeted consultations and reviews for 14 other sections of state highway around the country that were otherwise slated to automatically increase in speed.
Only three of the 16 sections will increase in speed.
NZTA’s announcement comes after SH6 between Nelson and Blenheim reverted to 100km/h on Monday, including sections in Nelson where local leaders and the community had preferred retaining lower speed limits.
Local Democracy Reporting is local body journalism co-funded by RNZ and NZ On Air
