Trafalgar Street - proposed 30km/h speed limit

Have your say on Papanui Parallel Major Cycle Route: Trafalgar Street - proposed 30km/h speed limit

Opportunity to comment on the Trafalgar Street - proposed 30km/h speed limit has now closed.

We received 85 submissions during the consultation period. 

A report will be presented to the Infrastructure, Transport and Environment Committee for approval at their meeting of Wednesday 11 April 2018.  The agenda with this report will be available on the Council website(external link) from 12pm, Friday 6 April 2018.

Comments received

Feedback - Trafalgar Street [PDF, 287 KB] 

Background

Trafalgar Street looking north

We have recently completed construction of the Papanui Parallel cycleway. The cycleway extends from Bealey Avenue to Sawyers Arms Road and is a mix of separated cycleway and shared spaces. One of the shared spaces is Trafalgar Street where cyclists and cars share the road. In addition there is a school crossing adjacent to Sheppard Place and a pre-school on Trafalgar Street, so there is a mix of both traffic and pedestrian activity along the street.

 Trafalgar Street is narrower than a typical Christchurch road corridor so speeds need to be kept lower due to the mixed uses in a narrow width.

 To ensure safety with the mixture of users of the street, a 30km/h speed limit will ensure that vehicles are maintaining a speed that allows them to stop if needed for oncoming vehicles, or children crossing the road unexpectedly. It will also create a safe speed for motorists and cyclists to share the road. The existing speed humps reduce vehicle speeds so the proposed 30km/h restriction will not change the existing behaviour for the majority of motorists but it does signal to drivers that it is a slow speed zone.

Speed limit process

The Christchurch City Council's Speed Limits Bylaw 2010 allows Council to set and change speed limits on roads within Christchurch in accordance with the Land Transport Rule Setting of Speed Limits 2017. 

Please note it is proposed to amalgamate the Speed Limits Bylaw with the new Traffic & Parking Bylaw 2017.  Further information(external link)