The New Zealand Transport Agency has approved a request to reduce the speed limit in George St, Port Chalmers, during the peak of the cruise-ship season.
The decision to approve reducing the speed from 50kmh to 30kmh between December 21 and February 28 comes after a request was made this week by the Chalmers Community Board and the city council, in part because of fears cruise-ship passengers could be injured.
Agency senior safety engineer Roy Johnston said the NZTA considered a number of factors before approving the request, including the safety risk for pedestrians, ''especially cruise-ship passengers who will be unfamiliar with this road environment''.
It was also found that reducing the speed limit would not add much travel time for trucks, Mr Johnston said.
''Our speed monitoring at the site indicates that for most trucks the change will add between four and eight seconds to their travel time,'' he said.
Council senior traffic engineer Ron Minnema said the council requested the reduction largely over concerns for the safety of cruise-ship passengers.
''I don't know if there have been near misses, but there have been reports of people wandering around where they shouldn't be.
''If the speed limit is down to 30kmh, if they are hit, the chances of them surviving is a lot better than at 40kmh and 50kmh,'' Mr Minnema said.
The request comes as the agency considers other ''traffic calming'' measures on George St, including changes to zebra crossings and putting in wider road edge lines.
