More support for faster open road limit

Stuff reports:

Motorists’ need for speed is ramping up, with a new survey showing a jump in support for the limit to be raised from 100kmh on the open road.

The Ministry of Transport’s latest Public Attitudes to Road Safety Survey shows that, when asked if the 100kmh speed limit should be raised, lowered or kept as is, 71 per cent wanted the status quo, 4 per cent wanted it lowered and 25 per cent wanted it raised.

It is a significant change from 2015, when 78 per cent said they wanted it kept at 100kmh and 18 per cent thought it should be raised.

I support a higher open road limit where the road is well designed, such as separated from ongoing traffic.

Over recent years the Government has warmed to the idea of a 110kmh limit on the best roads, including those built as part of the Government’s roads of national significance programme, provided they are flat, straight, have two lanes in each direction, a median barrier, and good shoulder space.

Candidates would include the new Waikato Expressway, the Tauranga Eastern Link and the Northern Gateway toll road north of Auckland. In the Wellington region, the soon-to-be-opened Kapiti Expressway would qualify, as would Transmission Gully, scheduled to open in 2020.

Sounds good to me.