Council has moved to reduce the speed limit on Calder Rd, after the motion was carried at the July 20 Council Meeting.
Council will seek approval from the Commissioner of Transport to reduce the speed limit on Calder Road from:
– 100km/h to 60km/h, from the Bass Hwy intersection with Calder Road to the existing rail corridor; and
– 100km/h to 80km/h from the existing rail corridor to the intersection of Calder Road and Pages Road
The Commissioner of Transport is the legal authority for setting and reviewing speed limits on all Tasmanian roads. The approval of the Commissioner of Transport must be obtained to reduce the current posted speed limit.
Council has received several requests from the public to review the posted speed limit on Calder Road, owing to the intensity of development in the area, the general alignment of Calder Road and history of traffic accidents occurring.
“We take the safety of the community and our residents in our municipality very seriously,” Waratah-Wynyard Mayor Robby Walsh said.
Council also adopted a Rural Road Safety Audit at the July meeting and recommendations from this report will be used for future project planning and deliberation via the Transport Asset Management Plan and Strategic Asset Management Plan.
An assessment of the Calder Rd speed limit in this vicinity was included within the scope of the Rural Road Safety Audit undertaken by HDS Australia.
HDS Australia is a specialist civil engineering and project management consultancy practice with expertise in traffic engineering, road design and road transport planning.
“HDS Australia determined that there had been 18 crashes in the past five years throughout this section of Calder Road and recommended a speed limit reduction from 100km/h to 80km/h and 60km/h closer to the Bass Highway,” Mayor Walsh added.
These works ranked fourth highest in terms of risk hierarchy compared to the total 360-plus identified safety audit items discovered across the municipality.
Authorised for general media distribution by Shane Crawford, General Manager, Waratah-Wynyard Council on Wednesday, July 29, 2020.