Minister for Territory and Municipal Services, Shane Rattenbury, invited Canberrans to provide feedback on the proposed boundaries for 40 kilometre per hour (40 km/h) speed limit precincts in Canberra’s group centres.
“The ACT Government started introducing 40 km/h speed limits in Canberra’s town centres in 2011 after being introduced via the first Greens-Labor Parliamentary Agreement. They have now been successfully introduced in Woden, Gungahlin, Tuggeranong, Belconnen and the City,” Mr Rattenbury said.
“The slower speed environments improve safety for all road users and, in particular, help make travel in town centres safer and more comfortable for pedestrians, cyclists and other vulnerable road users.
“The next step is to introduce 40 km/h speed limit precincts in 18 local group shopping centres from 2015. These include Amaroo, Calwell, Charnwood, Chisholm, Conder, Curtin, Dickson, Erindale, Hawker, Jamison, Kaleen, Kingston, Kambah, Kippax, Manuka, Mawson, Wanniassa and Weston.
“All Canberrans are invited to provide feedback on the proposed precinct boundaries for their group centre by completing a feedback form at timetotalk.act.gov.au or at any public library.
“Research indicates that the introduction of a 40km/h speed area can significantly reduce the risk of death for vulnerable road users. For example, a 10km/h decrease in speed can reduce the risk of death for pedestrians and cyclists by over 50 percent.
“Slower speed environments improve safety for all road users and help draw more pedestrian activity to the area. They help to create safer and vibrant community areas across Canberra.
“Following input from the community, the 40 km/h speed limit precincts will be finalised for the 18 group centres and progressively introduced in 2015.
“As with the introduction of previous precincts, after six months we will conduct an evaluation to determine their effectiveness in improving safety for vulnerable road users. This will again include feedback from the community as well as traffic surveys,” Mr Rattenbury concluded.
Implementing safer speed limits is a proven road safety measure, as identified in the National Road Safety Strategy and the ACT Road Safety Strategy and Action Plan.
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