Proposals to lower speed limits on a host of rural roads in Waitaki have met with strong support from communities and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA).
Under a Waitaki District Council review of speed limits, they would be reduced on 27 council roads, in some cases halved.
Speed limits on Thousand Acre, Alma, Robins and Richard Rds would be reduced from 100kmh to 80kmh. McLeods Rd and Bulleid Rd speed limits would be halved from 100kmh to 50kmh, while the 100kmh limit on Windsor Rd, Maheno-Kakanui Rd, Kakanui Valley Rd and Weston-Ngapara Rd would be reduced to 70kmh.
Speed reductions from 70kmh to 50kmh have also been proposed for the Duntroon and Enfield townships, and a 30kmh zone has been proposed to replace the 50kmh limit in the Oamaru Harbourside area.
A public submissions process finished at the start of September with very little opposition.
Indeed, the Duntroon and Enfield proposals had a 100% support rate from public submissions.
Waitaki Educational Trust trustee Norm Waite said he was particularly concerned that the speed limit in Enfield was too high.
The 12 teachers and 50 pupils at Westmount School crossed the road 70,000 times a year and he was concerned that an accident "could happen tomorrow".
"The road is narrow and carries a quantity of agricultural machinery, stock trucks and other country traffic, often as a through road."
Southern District Health Board public health researcher Emma Lynch said the DHB was in "full support" of the council's speed limit review and supported the proposed reduced speed limits.
The Waitaki district had a higher crash rate per 100 million km travelled (85) than the New Zealand average (66), she said, and added that the district also had a higher crash rate than other comparable areas.
NZTA investment adviser Graeme Rice praised all the proposed speed reductions as "very sound proposals".
He was particularly supportive of the move to make the Oamaru Harbourside recreational area a 30kmh zone.
"I have been quite amazed to see the increase in development there. It would be good to have a speed limit that would maximise the recreation experience.
"Clearly, it is something we would strongly endorse."
The council will make a final decision on the proposals in late October.
