Waka Kotahi NZ Transport Agency reviewed speed limits on State Highway 73 West Melton, Canterbury to ensure they are safe and appropriate for the road. We have now set a new permanent speed limit for State Highway 73 West Melton.
West Melton is a growing residential area west of Christchurch. In addition to the tavern and community centre on this stretch of highway, there are also several intersections as well as increasing numbers of homes. As part of the review of speed limits, a number of safety concerns were identified, including the safety of pedestrians crossing SH73 and the safety of cyclists using the highway.
We talked to the community, council, local businesses and others about making the highway in West Melton safer. We have had some feedback from the community that people were travelling too fast through this community.
| Location | Current speed limit | New speed limit from 12 October 2020 |
| SH73 West Melton from 500m east of Weedons Ross Road to 470m west of Weedons Ross Road. | 70km/h | 60km/h |
When determining the proposed speed limit that we consulted on, we reviewed the speeds that people are currently driving on this road, as well as the road itself. The speed limit of 60km/h was assessed to be the safe and appropriate speed limit for this road.
In the 10-year period between 2009 and 2018, there 14 crashes, one of them causing injury.
The new permanent speed limit will have minimal impact on travel times. Over the 970 metre distance, the increase in travel time will be approximately eight seconds.
Find out more about the West Melton permanent speed limits by reading the frequently asked questions.
Waka Kotahi consulted on proposed speed limit changes on SH73 West Melton between 21 October and 15 November 2019. 101 submissions were received during the consultation period from stakeholder organisations and the public.
More information about speed and the speed review process is available on the Speed Review Programme webpage.
