Coast schools not prioritised for safer speeds

Auckland Transport’s draft Speed Management plan 2024-27 has put eight Hibiscus Coast schools at the bottom of the pile when it comes to introducing safer speed limits.

The intention of the plan is for most schools across the region, to have 30kph speed limits, either permanent or variable, introduced over time but a report by Healthy Auckland Together, a coalition of groups advocating for safe and healthy environments, highlighted that Ōrewa Primary and College, Red Beach School, Whangaparāoa School and College, Wentworth Primary and College, and Gulf Harbour School have been left out of this phase of the rollout.

“The safety of children in Tāmaki Makaurau will be heavily impacted by which suburb they live in and which school they attend,” the report said.

However, an AT spokesperson says although those schools were not in the current consultation document, or previous phases of the Safe Speeds programme, they will be included in the next phase.

“Our target is to install safe and appropriate speeds outside all schools by the end of 2027,” the spokesperson says.

According to the report, 100 percent of schools in Māngere-Ōtāhuhu, Manurewa and Waiheke are proposed to have (or already applying) some form of speed restriction; the vast majority are also set to see safe speed bubbles applied. Waiheke has already had most of its protections implemented as part of previous phases of the AT speed-management plan.

The timing of the rollout was because of existing infrastructure, the AT spokesperson says. 

“Some schools already have electronic signs capable of showing 30kph and those changes can be made early on because the infrastructure is already there. Others have older, or no, electronic signs, and will need new ones installed, which could push them into later stages of delivery. Permanent speed limit changes will need new signs and road markings so they may also need to be installed in later stages. We will look to roll them out in a way that makes sense and doesn’t leave small gaps between areas with different speed limits, to minimise confusion for drivers.”