Recently, our Government announced we will be reversing the blanket speed limit reductions that the former government brought in. Labour introduced these at the start of 2020 on local streets, arterial roads, and state highways. These illogical blanket reductions that were forced on our local communities made it harder for people to get where they wanted to go, quickly and safely.

Our plan will mean all these blanket reductions will be reversed by 1 July 2025. NZTA will still be able to retain targeted reduced speed limits on rural state highways – but only where there is demonstrated public support for doing so. Going forward, when NZTA set speed limits, we are going to make sure that economic impacts, including travel times and the views of local road users and communities are taken into account, alongside safety.

We wish we could snap our fingers and get rid of these reductions tomorrow. While July 2025 is a little way off, we are moving at pace. It took the prior government two years and four months to sign their speed limit rule – we are signing ours within a year of taking office. We have to undertake public consultation, and we must make sure that NZTA and councils have enough time to go around and change all of their signs. This means the reversals can’t happen overnight, but we are moving as quickly as possible.

This rule also has exciting implications for our new Roads of National Significance. We will be enabling these roads to be travelled on at 110km/h where they are built to a safe standard. Safe roading infrastructure should provide higher speed limits, not slower ones. As part of the consultation process, we will also be seeking feedback on a proposal to allow speed limits of up to 120km/h on these specific roads where it is safe to do so.

This news is great for those of us on the North Shore, as it means most 30km zones that made you slow down will be reverted to normal limits. Having roads where Kiwis can travel efficiently and safely lifts productivity and is good for our economy. This is all part of our plan to get New Zealand back on track.