Hoping to stimulate economic growth, the Government has re-raised the speed limits on Napier-Taupo Road (and others) lowered by the previous regime in February 2022.
Apparently we will see the acceleration in Hawke’s Bay’s GDP shortly, as travel times will be reduced from 36 seconds to 3.6 minutes for a single journey.
This action despite the Ernst Young economic impact analysis completed in June 2023 that showed the benefits of lowering the speed limit (from 100km/h to 80) far outweighed the costs – safety benefits calculated at $93 million in the first year, as against the travel time cost increase of $1.3 million. Other benefits included vehicle operating savings and emissions reductions. With these added, the total net benefits of the speed reduction were $92.6 million.
When the Ernst Young report was released, NZ Transport made this commitment:
“Waka Kotahi intends to repeat the economic impact analysis after five years of data is available in order to provide a more detailed long-term analysis of the safety and economic impacts of the speed limit changes. The five-yearly review will also examine the contribution of other factors to safety and economic outcomes on SH5, including planned infrastructure improvements as well as additional investment in road maintenance.”
Hopefully that commitment will be met, despite the present Government’s premature and dangerous action in putting speed before safety.
Fortunately, some $13 million of improvements have been made in 2024 to this road. This included works to improve the safety of a number of high-risk curves on SH5, as well as the Tarawera slow vehicle bay.
Enough to justify lifting the speed limit?
Apparently not, a business case encompassing a full programme of road improvements with has been endorsed by the NZTA Board. However it has not been funded.
It certainly appears this Government is into speed – fast-tracking previously rejected major projects, passing a historic number of ill-considered bills under ‘urgency’, and now, literally, urging us to drive faster.
Speed at any cost.
You can read the Ernst Young review here.
“reduced from 36 seconds to 3.6 minutes” …. errrr …. oops
This whole argument rests on the belief that a majority of drivers on SH5 actually observed the reduced speed limit since it was dropped to 80kph. Utter nonsense.
Speed at any cost! So we can go back to the number of deaths on that road previous to the drop in limits – that’s acceptable according to this Government? We can now understand that the deaths of a number of people is far more preferable than having transport spend a few extra moments travelling from point A to Point B. Trumpism is alive and well in this Government – economics and growth is much better than the lives of the people of this country.
To quote Luxon. His three dominant priorities are “growth, growth, growth”. The speed increase will lead to more fuel, more vehicle wear and tear, more accidents and more medical treatment and funerals etc all helping ‘create’ more jobs. Plus the extra emissions helps accelerate climate change which helps increase building work from natural disasters. Credit where credit is due in terms of Luxon being willing to ‘think outside the square’ to achieve his growth at all costs mentality.
As a person that travels the Napier Taupo road every week in a Van, it can be safely travelled at 100kmh in most places. Stupid people will always do stupid things, passing on low visibility corners , in places like this there needs to be more double yellow lines and better safety signage.
I haven’t driven that road for a couple of years, but there’s not much of the 80 part that I wanted to do more than 80 on anyway. I suppose that I’m just not all that efficient.
I totally agree with Ben Keehans Comment this road is easily travelled with the speed limit of 100 K per hour. The problem is when people get a license. They are not tested on the open road or on gravel roads and therefore they have got no idea. I’ve travelled this road on and off for 60 years, and now it is like a speed track compared to what it was before.
I won hundred K per hour speed limit is eminently sensible for normal drivers
The speed limit is not a recommended speed, it’s a maximum. Drivers are meant to drive to the conditions. Most NZ roads have sections where 80 kph would be ridiculously dangerous and other sections where it would seem like dawdling. The pro-slow side often sets up a dichotomy between ‘rural’ roads (= dangerous) and …(what? motorways?). I can’t help thinking what the threatened extension of the 80kph limit would have done to the roads I most often drive: Wairoa-Napier, Wairoa-Rotorua via Urewera, and Wairoa Gisborne. It would be very frustrating to have negotiated all the difficult winding bits at 50kph or less, only to be limited on the straights to 80kph where you can get a move on. These rural roads don’t feel particularly dangerous to me, and I don’t believe a blanket lower speed limit for ‘rural’ roads is appropriate. The Napier-Taupo Road is perhaps a special case. It does feel scary sometimes. Is this because of ‘improvements’ over the years, creating those longer, ‘easier’ curves, often up- or downhill, combined with higher traffic? I have no problem with treating parts of it as a special case, but otherwise find myself agreeing with the govt’s re-instatement of 100kph as the default.
Yes speed versus safety,that stretch of road is one most treacherous highways to travel many downhill around corners blind spots and a highway of many fatalities ,so so ill thinking.
So how about the Gisborne road way worse than the Taupo Road and still 100 km how do you work that out.
Driving SH5 for my career and pleasure regularly, there is much effort in trying to stick to the 80kph with long periods on the brake as a consequence. I am always overtaken. Light vehicles and even the odd truck follow for a while, they then get frustrated and will pass, mostly on the few overtaking lanes. I see very little police presence when I travel this Sate Highway. (Let’s assume the road is looked at as being safe as everyone is doing 80 kph). Well less actually – 80 is around 76 kph true in most modern cars with a margin to allow for speed creep. In some observations drivers don’t won’t a speeding ticket so they travel at 75 kph or so. Just over a true 70 kph. Amazingly, on the passing lanes 80 kph is possible. Technically driving over 80 kph I can’t pass. So I sit back looking forward to 75 or so kph ahead. In terms of the time taken at the two speeds, if I watch the vehicles that pass they are soon gone into the distance. For a fact if they are competent drivers in a modern car or Ute, I know they will be in Taupo or Eskdale long before I am. I would estimate based on the old 100 kph speed limited about 10 minutes difference in time practically. It’s easy to comment when one isn’t regularly using this road. (Or others)