Speed limit changes in southern central city

A 30km/h speed limit will be introduced on St Asaph Street and on sections of Hagley Avenue.

Christchurch City Council today voted to accept the recommendations of a Hearings Panel that was convened in December last year to consider public feedback on proposed speed limit changes in the southern central city.

A 30km/h speed limit will be introduced on St Asaph Street.

The Hearings Panel recommended the Council:

• Introduce a 30km/h speed limit on St Asaph Street and on sections of Hagley Avenue.
• Introduce a 10km/h speed limit on Oxford Terrace and Antigua Street alongside Christchurch Hospital’s new Outpatients building. 

“The Hearings Panel, after considering submissions from the public and hearing from the authors of an independent safety and functionality review of St Asaph Street, decided that for safety reasons a 30km/h speed limit was needed on St Asaph Street and today the Council endorsed that decision,’’ says Hearings Panel Chair Cr Mike Davidson.

“With the new Ao Tawhiti Unlimited Discovery School opening later this year and the planned opening in the next few years of the Metro Sports Facility there is going to be an increasing number of pedestrians and cyclists using St Asaph Street.

“It is already a busy street and we want to ensure it is a safe, attractive environment for all road users. International research and local evidence indicates that pedestrians and cyclists are particularly vulnerable to being seriously injured or killed by vehicles travelling at 50km/h and that the appropriate speed for environments such as St Asaph Street is 30km/h.  This is why we are lowering the speed limit from 50km/h to 30km/h,’’ Cr Davidson says.

“On Oxford Terrace and Antigua Street, by the busy Outpatients building, it makes sense to have a 10km/h speed limit because it is consistent with the speed limits that apply to the remainder of Oxford Terrace and the other low-speed, shared-zone streets across the central city.’’

The Council was also considering lowering the speed limit on Riccarton Avenue, outside the hospital, but on the recommendation of the Hearings Panel it has decided not to proceed with that speed limit change.