Leigh town speeds reduced

Leigh residents have had a small win in their campaign against a reduced speed limit.
Auckland Transport has approved speed limit changes on more than 1600 roads to take effect from December onwards.

In Leigh, the speed will drop from 50kph to 40kph on most streets on March 2 next year, and to 30kph around Leigh School during school hours.

Campaign organiser Tony Enderby says it was worth locals voicing their opposition to the 30kph limit that was proposed for the whole of Leigh.

Other local roads affected include two sections of Woodcocks Road (between 150m west of Falls Road and 86m east of Carran Road and between 86m east of Carran Road and Old Kaipara Road) where the speed will drop from 100kph to 60kph; Hibiscus Coast Highway at Waiwera (between 50m east of Waiwera Road and 624m north of Otanerua Road) will drop from 80kph to 60kph; and Pakiri Road (between Witten Road and the beach) will drop from 60kph to 40kph.

Auckland Transport’s executive general manager of safety Stacey van der Putten says the purpose of safe speed limits is to save lives and prevent serious injuries.“

In Tāmaki Makaurau/Auckland we have a shocking number of deaths and serious injuries from road trauma,” van der Putten says. “It’s just unacceptably high.

“Evidence shows speed is a factor in more than 70 per cent of injury crashes in New Zealand. We need to do everything we can to create safe school neighbourhoods, so parents feel confident their children can walk, bike or scooter to school.”

Auckland Transport says safe speed limits are saving lives. In areas where speed limits were changed in June 2020, fatalities reduced by 30 per cent in the following 24-month period. During the same period on rural roads, there has been a 48 per cent reduction in fatalities and a more than 25 per cent reduction in serious injuries.

AT’s Safe Speeds programme supports its Vision Zero goal of zero deaths and serious injuries on Auckland’s roads by 2050.

The affected streets in Leigh are:
Albert, Barrier View, Cotterell, Cumberland, Ferndale, Harbour View, Hauraki (between Wonderview Rd and north of Hauraki Rd), Hill, Kowhai, Kyle, Lax, Pakiri (between Seatoun Ave and 240m west of Seatoun Ave), Penguin, Puriri, Sea View, Seatoun, Totara and Wonderview.