A temporary 30kmh speed limit is back in force on sections of the road along Wellington’s south coast as people continue to congregate there under the COVID-19 lockdown levels.

And Wellington City Council is calling motorists, cyclists and pedestrians alike to slow down and take care on the south coast roads.

The Council’s Transport and Infrastructure Manager, Brad Singh, says there have again been reports of ‘near misses’ involving motor vehicles and the large number of pedestrians and cyclists using the roads for exercise since the latest COVID-19 lockdown began.

The temporary 30kmh speed limit was introduced in April last year during the first COVID lockdown and then reinstated to 50kmh once the lockdown ended.

Mr Singh says the speed reduction is permitted under the Land Transport Act. Road controlling authorities, including councils, are able to set ‘emergency speed limits’ if there is a risk of danger to any person due to an emergency that affects the use of any road.

The list of applicable emergencies in the Land Transport Act includes earthquakes, eruptions, tsunami, storms – and epidemics.

Mr Singh says the Council anticipates the temporary speed reduction will apply until the city returns to Alert Level 1.

Mr Singh says there are a lot more people than usual on the south coast, especially in fine weather – and a big part of the problem is where footpaths are narrow and pedestrians are trying to stay two metres apart when they’re passing.

“We’ve had reports that people are stepping onto the road – sometimes without looking – which is clearly risky behaviour. That’s one of the main reasons we’re bringing down the speed limit.”

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