More on speed limits at the Train Park

You may have seen the media coverage of our meeting with Lord Mayor Sue Hickey and Alderman Anna Reynolds at the park yesterday.  This was The Mercury's report.

Trine, Amanda, Helayne and I met Elise Archer, Speaker of the House of Assembly, onsite today to hear the Government's view. She understands that the Commissioner for Transport will approve the proposed reduction in speed limits once the Council has come back with its proposed additional road infrastructure measures to assist in slowing the traffic down.  So the ball is in Council's court to keep this moving.

While we were standing at the corner chatting, we witnessed two near misses on the roundabout!

As usual there is some pushback from disgruntled drivers, so it would be great if residents could drop a line to the Council to thank them for their initiative.

Here are some suggested messages:

- it was a good decision to seek the speed limit reduction, and thankyou
- the 40kph limit is becoming the new standard in residential neighbourhoods and shopping areas
- tackling speed will help make our streets safer
- the risk of a crash increases as vehicle speeds increase.  This is partly due to the longer braking distance (braking distance is proportional to the square of speed) and partly due to the time people need to process information, to decide whether or not to react, and finally, to execute a reaction.
- the severity of injuries arising from a crash increases exponentially with vehicle speed. Research from the Curtin-Monash Accident Research Centre shows that at mean speeds of 40kph the risk of death is about 25%, while at mean speed 50kph the risk of death is close to 83%.
- please ensure this process proceeds as quickly as possible to reduce the risk to residents as soon as possible.

Email contact details for the Aldermen are:

Lord Mayor Sue Hickey  lord.mayor@hobartcity.com.au
Deputy Lord Mayor Ron Christie  ronchristie@netspace.net.au
Helen Burnet  helenburnet@gmail.com
Philip Cocker  philip_council@netspace.net.au
Anna Reynolds ald.reynolds@hobartcity.com.au
Tanya Denison  tanyamdenison@gmail.com
Suzy Cooper ald.cooper@hobartcity.com.au
Peter Sexton ptsexton@tassie.net.au
Eva Ruzicka eva@ruzicka.id.au
Jeff Briscoe jbriscoe@netspace.net.au
Damon Thomas damon.thomas@bigpond.com
Marti Zucco ald_zucco@netspace.net.au  

Update on traffic speeds at the train park

As of today, we are advised (via the Lord Mayor Sue Hickey) that the Government has told Hobart City Council that Council may be permitted to reduce the speed limit in the vicinity of Caldew Park to 40kph, on the proviso that additional infrastructure is implemented to assist in the reduction of traffic speeds.  Council has contracted engineering firm GHD to advise on what additional measures might be involved. 

At lunchtime today Tuesday (in the cold and rain!) Alderman Anna Reynolds and LM Sue Hickey met with several residents at the park to brief the media on this.  Southern Cross TV, WIN TV and The Mercury were there, which was good.  The residents' reps were Di Elliffe (WHEN), Amanda Staley (Melt Cafe) and Helayne Short. Di told the media about WHEN's longstanding concerns about the increasing volume and speed of through traffic in this residential area which has lots of pedestrians, both old and young.  We think Council needs to make a decision that in principle Hill St should not be a "collector road" (and can therefore have a lower speed limit applied) and start working towards encouraging drivers to go by other routes or modes.  Amanda talked about her concerns at the traffic speed and seeing several near misses outside the cafe.  Helayne started the petition of residents calling for a reduction in the speed limit after spending some time in the cafe and witnessing the problem.

Di will be meeting Elise Archer obo the Minister Rene Hidding tomorrow, and we hope to have the Government's position confirmed then.

It is looking very promising at this stage!