Councillors also agreed some of the rural peninsula area reviewed would be part of a national study which would contribute to developing best practice for implementing safe speed limits.
The council voted unanimously on Monday to accept the recommendations from the speed-limit bylaws hearing subcommittee to reduce the speed limits on 29 peninsula roads, from up to 100kmh to a maximum of 80kmh.
The recommendations followed extensive council staff consultation with peninsula residents and 54 submissions during a formal public consultation process, which showed most people supported the reduction of speed limits in the area.
Councillors also voted to participate in a safe-speeds demonstration trial, although only after more information on signage and budget implications was received and further discussions with the community and the Otago Peninsula Community Board.
The trial would be part of national research to better understand "safe" speed limits by setting up demonstration areas where speeds had actually been specifically set to be safe and appropriate, as councillors had decided to do on the peninsula.
The main difference between a safe-speeds demonstration area and business as usual would be special signage and markings in the area and more intensive surveying of road use and the local community, and publicity, transportation engineer Diana Munster told councillors in a report.
She said there was a lack of information about what speeds were actually safer on rural roads, and the purpose of the research was to increase the general understanding of the impact of "safe" speed limits on traffic speed and safety, and what the limits meant to road users and the community.
The area involved in the trial would be bounded by Highcliff Rd (Pukehiki village to Portobello), Castlewood, Allans Beach and Weir Rds, which, with the exception of a 50kmh limit on Camp Rd, has a new area-wide 70kmh limit.
Participating would come at a cost of $25,000 more than the $30,000 budgeted in the annual plan for signage to change speed limits across the peninsula, but the money would be sourced from external funding.
Given there was a lack of guidance nationally regarding setting safe speed limits, the benefits to the council of participating in the trial would be ensuring any national guidelines developed were appropriate to Dunedin and that the city was at the forefront of the development of safe speed limits, Ms Munster said.
