Speed Management Plan

Update April 2025

In October 2024 the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2024 came into force, replacing the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022. This new rule sets out criteria, requirements and procedures to be followed by the Road Controlling Authorities when reviewing and setting speed limits.

As a result, the DCC can no longer proceed with the speed limit proposals we consulted on in our Speed Management Plan under the previous Rule. As a requirement of the new Rule, the DCC must review and in some cases reverse speed limit changes for certain specified roads that have been implemented since 1 January 2020.

We are working through the requirements of the new Land Transport Rule and are considering how we will manage speed changes in the future. We will be communicating any changes with the public as soon as these are accepted by the Minister of Transport.

Consultation closed: Thursday 21 September 2023.

Background

Under New Zealand’s Road To Zero Strategy 2020 – 2030, every Road Controlling Agency is required to develop a speed management plan in accordance with the Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2022. Alongside other Councils across New Zealand, Dunedin City Council has developed a draft Speed Management Plan 2024 – 2027 and consulted the public for their feedback on the proposed speed limit changes.

In 2022, we consulted on the Interim Speed Management Plan, which proposed to reduce speeds around schools, some suburban hubs, and the tertiary precinct. After consultation, the changes were approved by Council. Speed limit reductions to 30km/h in these areas are now in place. Those speed signs were installed from late September through to late November, 2023.

This draft Speed Management Plan 2024 – 2027 builds on the changes made in the Interim Speed Management Plan to continue progress towards the Road To Zero target of a 40% reduction in deaths and serious injuries by 2030.

• The benefits of safe speeds

  In the past, speed limit reviews did not give sufficient weight to road classification or design. The result is that on some routes in Dunedin, travel speeds are too high for the road use and function. New Zealand data shows that 71% of crash injuries occur at speeds higher than the safe speed for that road.

  Community wellbeing is important to consider when reviewing speed limits. Everyone should be able to choose the mode of transport that suits them best and feel safe on the roads while using it. The draft Speed Management Plan 2024 – 2027 is a tool to help us achieve that goal.

  The proposed new speed limits will help us take steps towards making Dunedin roads safer by:

  • Reducing the risk of a serious crash by giving people more time to react to mistakes
  • Helping to protect people if a crash does occur. For pedestrians and cyclists, a crash at 30km/h is nearly always going to be survivable, whereas a crash at 50km/h will nearly always result in death or serious injury
  • Supporting communities by ensuring safety for all road users
  • Encouraging all modes of travel in our urban centres by making our roads calmer.

  

• Sealed and unsealed rural roads

  Our approach is to follow Waka Kotahi’s Speed Management Guide advice on rural roads, and propose an 80km/h speed limit on most roads (excluding state highways) that are currently subject to the open road speed limit of 100km/h. Where the road is currently 100km/h and unsealed, the proposal is to introduce a 60km/h speed limit as per national guidance.

• Rural settlements

  There are a number of settlements within rural areas where guidance indicates the safe speed is 30km/h or 40km/h, depending on the function and use of the roads in the area. We propose to reduce the current 50km/h speed limits to 30km/h or 40km/h, as outlined in detail in the maps below.

• Some of our urban centres

  The highest concentration of vulnerable user activity occurs in urban centres. Waka Kotahi data shows that 50km/h travel speeds are too high for most urban centres. This draft Speed Management Plan proposes a wider change to the speed limit and speed environment on the roads within the central city as well as 25 urban centres: Andersons Bay, Burkes, City Rise, Dalmore, Dunedin Central, Kensington, Liberton, Musselburgh, Normanby, North Dunedin, North East Valley, Ocean Grove/Tomahawk, Opoho, Pine Hill, Port Chalmers, Roseneath, Saint Clair, Saint Kilda, Sawyers Bay, Shiel Hill, South Dunedin, Tainui, Vauxhall, and Waverly.

  Within these areas, the majority of roads will become 30km/h while some of the arterial roads will be 40km/h.

• Roads around marae

  There are three Marae within the Dunedin territorial area where a lower speed limit is being proposed – Arai Te Uru Marae, , Ōtākou Marae and Puketeraki Marae. Sections of the roads around the three Marae are proposed to be set at 30km/h.

• Roads around schools

  The Setting of Speed Limits Rule 2022 introduced specific requirements for speed limits for roads outside schools. The DCC’s 2022 Interim Speed Management Plan implemented a reduction in speed limits to 30km/h whether permanently or only during school times. This draft Speed Management Plan proposes a lower general speed limit for rural settlements and the city centre, which affects George St Normal School, Outram, Portobello, Waikouaiti and Waitati. We propose these schools will be within a permanent 30km/h limit.

How it works: our ten year vision

Our draft Speed Management Plan contains a three-year implementation programme which works towards our ten year vision.

The Interim Speed Management Plan was certified on 29 May 2023, setting out how we would lower speeds around urban centres such as Mornington, Caversham and Māori Hill, as well as lower speed limits around all schools and in the tertiary precinct. The Interim Speed Management Plan forms the basis of our speed limit implementation programme to 30 June 2024.

This draft Speed Management Plan contains our proposals for the speed limit implementation programme for the period 1 July 2024 to 30 June 2027. It focuses on the speed of vehicles on rural roads and within rural settlements, parts of our Dunedin City urban centre and on outside Marae.

The next Speed Management Plan for the period 2027 – 2030 will consider those areas in Dunedin and Mosgiel where changes have not been proposed for implementation in the period to 30 June 2027. By 2030 all speed limits within Dunedin City Council areas will have been reviewed.

View the map in full screen (open in new window)

Have your say

On 29 August 2023, Council approved the draft Speed Management Plan 2024 – 2027 for public consultation.

We asked you to share your views on the proposed speed limit changes.

Consultation submissions closed at midnight, Thursday 21 September 2023.

You can read the submissions received on the consultation here:

Speed Management Plan - Submissions received.

Next steps

The Dunedin Speed Management Plan Hearings Panel heard submissions from the public at a Hearings Committee, which was held over three days on 19, 20, and 24 October 2023. All public submissions have been incorporated into a report for their consideration. The Hearings Panel is currently adjourned and waiting further clarity from central government, which has advised it plans to amend the Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits 2022. The Hearings Committee will reconvene at a later date.