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Renewed push to slash city speed limits

A new push is underway within the Adelaide City Council to reduce driving speeds to 40kph on some city roads and implement more one-way streets.

Jun 20, 2016, updated Jun 20, 2016
No-one is willing to say which streets could be in line for speed reductions, but Rundle Street is a possible candidate. Photo: Nat Rogers, InDaily.

No-one is willing to say which streets could be in line for speed reductions, but Rundle Street is a possible candidate. Photo: Nat Rogers, InDaily.

The council decided in April to review its Smart Move transport strategy over fears it was too “anti-car”.

But it is set for a clash tomorrow evening over a proposal by South Ward councillor Priscilla Corbell to include in the review “where and how reduced – 40kph – speed limits and one-way streets could enhance the city experience”.

Corbell told InDaily reducing the speed limit to 40kph on some city streets could improve safety and help city businesses attract new customers.

She said motorists driving more slowly were more likely to notice new businesses adjacent the street, and city residents were more likely to get on their bicycle with slower traffic speeds.

“There is a growing body of evidence [that] it can be beneficial to local businesses,” she said.

“If the city remains 50kph I think that’s detrimental to the future growth of the city.”

She said it was “also safer”, adding: “If [city streets are] safer then more people are more inclined to get on their bikes”.

Corbell said traders in Prospect had seen tangible benefits from the decision to implement a 40kph speed restriction on Prospect Road.

“The local businesses have seen it’s assisted,” she said.

Corbell, an advocate for separated cycling lanes, also wants the council’s administration to investigate introducing more one-way, single-lane driving streets in the city.

She said some city streets are too narrow to feature separated cycling lanes on both sides of the road with two driving lanes – so it may be appropriate to reducing driving lanes to one.

“If you have separated bikeways on both sides of the street … it’s difficult with some streets that are quite narrow,” she told InDaily.

“[One-way streets] would work really well with the bikeways… they’ve been successful in other cities.”

Reducing speed limits in the city was a feature of Lord Mayor Martin Haese’s election campaign in 2014, but he has not yet pursued the reform in office.

The council scrapped its 40kph trial for Hutt Street near the end of then-Lord Mayor Stephen Yarwood’s term, in mid-2014.

Yarwood is reported to have said at the time that Adelaide was “not ready” for the change.

Corbell said she had been disappointed by the decision, suggesting “the average speed is 42 kph anyway [on Hutt Street but] people didn’t know that”.

She stressed she was not advocating a city-wide 40kph restriction, and would not name any particular street she believed to be a good candidate for either slower speeds or fewer driving lanes.

However she suggested “revisiting” slow-speed trials, “possibly” including Hutt Street – but said it would be up to council staff to give options for streets that could have reduced speeds.

InDaily asked a council spokesperson if the administration believed any particular roads were good candidates for slower speeds, as per the manual.

The spokesperson said it “really is too early to speculate on specific locations”.   

Reducing the speed of city streets is already a feature of the council’s Adelaide Design Manual, as revealed in February.

The council’s Economic and Community Development committee will consider Corbell’s proposal tomorrow night.

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