Christchurch's Southern Motorway (file photo). Photo: RNZ / Nate McKinnon
Motorists in Canterbury will be about to pump the pedal a little harder from tomorrow, with a higher speed limit beginning on Christchurch's Southern Motorway.
From Sunday, drivers travelling in and out of Christchurch to the south will be able to travel at 110 kilometres an hour on a 17.7km section of State Highway 1 and State Highway 76, from east of the Curletts Road interchange in Addington, to west of the Weedons Road interchange in Rolleston.
It is the first 110km/h speed limit for the South Island, Minister of Transport Chris Bishop said, and with up to 38,000 vehicles a day on the route, the higher speed limit would help get people and freight to where they need to go quickly and safely.
Bishop was confident the increased speed limit would have no impact on safety, as the Christchurch Southern Motorway was built to a high safety standard, with two lanes in each direction, a flexible median barrier, smooth alignment and good visibility.
The road was begun under the last National government as a Road of National Significance, Bishop said, and had already delivered strong safety benefits, better travel times and reliability, and less congestion.
NZTA consultation on the speed limit increase attracted nearly 4000 submissions, of which 68 percent were in support - and most strongly in support, he said.
Associate Transport Minister and Minister for the South Island James Meager said the change was positive, and road safety had been taken into consideration.
"We are very confident that the increase will have no impact on the safety of the road, and we are confident that we can do that in other parts of the country as well - where the roads are built well.
"And that reinforces the importance of growth, so that we've got the resources to put into building better higher quality roads."
Meager said the speed limit increase would save hundreds of hours each day in waiting time, time which people would have spent in traffic.
"It shows that when you can build really good high quality safe roads you can increase the speed limits in a safe way that actually get more people moving from A to B quickly and efficiently.
"So that means people, goods, getting up the roads, off to work, onto ports, into boats, exports out of the country - it's all really great for the South Island."
Meager said other Canterbury road improvements in the works include:
- SH1 Belfast to Pegasus, and Woodend bypass
- SH76 Brougham Street upgrades
- SH75 Halswell Road improvements
- SH1 Rolleston access improvements
- the second Ashburton Bridge.
Near the end of its 2024 - 2027 planning period, NZTA would also be considering the future capacity needed between the Lyttelton and Timaru ports - including on SH1, SH76, and SH74, Meager said. This could include replacing SH1 bridges, considering the role of rail, and looking at the potential for four lanes roads in the corridor.
