Mr SETTER - 1994-08-23
The excessive noise emanating from road traffic in urban areas is a matter of great concern to all MLAs. There are many inquiries and complaints to my office about this. It is a matter that I will be speaking about later in these sittings. On this occasion, I ask the minister whether the trial reduction of the speed limit to 40 km/hr in the suburb of Leanyer has been completed and what the likely outcome of that will be?
ANSWER
The Darwin City Council instituted a pilot program of a 50 km/hr speed limit in the suburban areas of Leanyer for 3 months. I remind members of the circumstances that brought
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that about. A group comprised of officers from the Darwin City Council, the Department of Transport and Works, the Road Safety Council and the Northern Territory Police met to look at speed limits in Darwin and the problems of noise and traffic movement through the urban areas as well as on the main arterial corridors.
Mr Bailey: That big black dragster with red stripes down the side.
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, the member for Wanguri simply persists. The old saying that an empty vessel makes the most noise is certainly very true in his case. There are probably people in the community who have some interest in this, and I ask the member for Wanguri to keep his comments to himself to enable community members to keep abreast at least of what is occurring in this area.
Mr Bailey: We raised this issue 5 years ago, and you voted against it, Daryl.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, I challenge the member for Wanguri to show me where he raised the subject of a reduction in speed limits.
Mr Bailey: 1989. It was the first motion I moved.
Mr MANZIE: And it was voted against.
As I was saying, this group met, discussed this issue and came up with recommendations. The recommendations were that the major arterial road speed limits be raised - I believe, on average, that was to be by about 10 km/h - and that urban residential speed limits be reduced to 50 km/h. There were 2 different areas involved here - the main arterial roads, which are under the control of the Northern Territory government, and the urban residential roads which are under the control of the Darwin City Council.
As a result of the recommendations, the government proceeded to implement its part of those recommendations by raising the speed limits on Bagot Road, the Stuart Highway, Amy Johnson Drive and several other major roads, and that particular exercise has worked very successfully. At the same time, the council unfortunately decided that it would not proceed with what had been recommended. However, it put its toe in the water, so to speak, and set up a trial in the suburb of Leanyer.
While door-knocking my electorate prior to the last election, and I know that this was also very true of other electorates in the northern suburbs, people in the community made representations continually to me about the speeds at which vehicles are driven on urban roads and requested that the speed limits be reduced in urban areas. The council has run its trial and it has provided me with an interim report on that trial. Unfortunately, it has not come up with anything really conclusive. The major finding is that speeds were not reduced very much at all in the pilot zone. It recommends that the only action that will solve this situation is intense police surveillance of roads in residential areas. One of the interesting things to come from the report is a graph that has been produced using the results of a survey. It is interesting in that a number of control measures were put to the community as ways and means of imposing speed
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limits. It covers roundabouts, humps, plateaus, narrowed streets, islands, policing, speed cameras and low speed limits.
In relation to low speed limits, over 50% of the community want the speed limit reduced in residential areas against 30% who do not want them reduced. In relation to roundabouts, 50% believe that roundabouts are an effective way of slowing traffic against 29% who do not agree. Nearly 60% did not want to see speed cameras introduced against 20% who wanted to see them. In respect of policing, about 40% said yes and 40% said no to the concept that extra policing would be the way to go. Thus, the community itself, almost 2 to 1, wants to see the speed limits lowered in those residential areas. I strongly urge the council to respond to what the community wants and to the recommendations of the working group which was comprised of experts in this field. I urge it also to stop shillyshallying around and coming up with excuses as to why it will not lower those speed limits even when it is clear that that is what the community wants.
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ANSWER
The Darwin City Council instituted a pilot program of a 50 km/hr speed limit in the suburban areas of Leanyer for 3 months. I remind members of the circumstances that brought
Page 55
that about. A group comprised of officers from the Darwin City Council, the Department of Transport and Works, the Road Safety Council and the Northern Territory Police met to look at speed limits in Darwin and the problems of noise and traffic movement through the urban areas as well as on the main arterial corridors.
Mr Bailey: That big black dragster with red stripes down the side.
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, the member for Wanguri simply persists. The old saying that an empty vessel makes the most noise is certainly very true in his case. There are probably people in the community who have some interest in this, and I ask the member for Wanguri to keep his comments to himself to enable community members to keep abreast at least of what is occurring in this area.
Mr Bailey: We raised this issue 5 years ago, and you voted against it, Daryl.
Mr SPEAKER: Order!
Mr MANZIE: Mr Speaker, I challenge the member for Wanguri to show me where he raised the subject of a reduction in speed limits.
Mr Bailey: 1989. It was the first motion I moved.
Mr MANZIE: And it was voted against.
As I was saying, this group met, discussed this issue and came up with recommendations. The recommendations were that the major arterial road speed limits be raised - I believe, on average, that was to be by about 10 km/h - and that urban residential speed limits be reduced to 50 km/h. There were 2 different areas involved here - the main arterial roads, which are under the control of the Northern Territory government, and the urban residential roads which are under the control of the Darwin City Council.
As a result of the recommendations, the government proceeded to implement its part of those recommendations by raising the speed limits on Bagot Road, the Stuart Highway, Amy Johnson Drive and several other major roads, and that particular exercise has worked very successfully. At the same time, the council unfortunately decided that it would not proceed with what had been recommended. However, it put its toe in the water, so to speak, and set up a trial in the suburb of Leanyer.
While door-knocking my electorate prior to the last election, and I know that this was also very true of other electorates in the northern suburbs, people in the community made representations continually to me about the speeds at which vehicles are driven on urban roads and requested that the speed limits be reduced in urban areas. The council has run its trial and it has provided me with an interim report on that trial. Unfortunately, it has not come up with anything really conclusive. The major finding is that speeds were not reduced very much at all in the pilot zone. It recommends that the only action that will solve this situation is intense police surveillance of roads in residential areas. One of the interesting things to come from the report is a graph that has been produced using the results of a survey. It is interesting in that a number of control measures were put to the community as ways and means of imposing speed
Page 56
limits. It covers roundabouts, humps, plateaus, narrowed streets, islands, policing, speed cameras and low speed limits.
In relation to low speed limits, over 50% of the community want the speed limit reduced in residential areas against 30% who do not want them reduced. In relation to roundabouts, 50% believe that roundabouts are an effective way of slowing traffic against 29% who do not agree. Nearly 60% did not want to see speed cameras introduced against 20% who wanted to see them. In respect of policing, about 40% said yes and 40% said no to the concept that extra policing would be the way to go. Thus, the community itself, almost 2 to 1, wants to see the speed limits lowered in those residential areas. I strongly urge the council to respond to what the community wants and to the recommendations of the working group which was comprised of experts in this field. I urge it also to stop shillyshallying around and coming up with excuses as to why it will not lower those speed limits even when it is clear that that is what the community wants.
Page 57
Last updated: 09 Aug 2016