110 km/hr roads getting closer

Stuff reports:

A new law has been drafted that will allow for 110kmh speed limits for the first time on some New Zealand roads.

The New Zealand Transport Agency announced on Thursday that the draft Land Transport Rule: Setting of Speed Limits (2017) would pave the way for a 110kmh limit on roads with at least two lanes in each direction, a median barrier, and no direct access to neighbouring properties.

Sounds sensible criteria.

Harry Wilson, the agency’s road safety director, said the Tauranga Eastern Link and the Cambridge section of the Waikato Expressway already fit those criteria.

The transport agency has said previously that it had identified 155km of highway across Auckland, Tauranga and Waikato that would be suitable for a 110kmh limit, subject to minor treatments.

In Auckland, those roads are the Tunnel to Lonely Track section of the Northern Motorway (SH1), the Upper Harbour Motorway (SH18), and the Takanini to Bombay section of the Southern Motorway (SH1).

The article doesn’t say when the rule may come into force but consultation closes in June so it could be as early as later this year.