18 September 2019
Mr Hugh Davenport
[FYI request #11026 email] Dear Mr Davenport
Thank you for your email dated 21 August 2019 regarding the slow down speed signs
around the city. You have requested:
1. Any policies the Council has for installing these signs.
2. Any policies the Council has for changing speed limits with in the city.
3. What the council are doing to ensure their policies contain instructions for the Traffic
Engineers to ensure that the signs are always configured with the actual speed
limit.
4. In addition, for each of these SLOW DOWN signs installed in the city, I would like
the following information:
o
The location of the sign
o
The date the sign was installed
o
The speed limit at the location the sign is installed
o
The date the speed limit was set
o
The configured speed for the installed sign
o
The date that the sign was configured with the current speed
o
If the configured speed does not match the current speed limit, then a
timeframe on when the council is planning on correcting the configuration to
reflect the actual speed limit.
o
Whether the above policies (in regards to installation of the sign, or changing
of the speed limit) were followed when the sign was installed. If they were not
followed, then what is the council doing to ensure that the policies are
followed in the future.
5. The time required for a sign to have its configured speed changed on. If it is a short
timeframe, then an explanation on why the sign installed on Willis St has not been
resolved after 2 weeks, and what the council are doing to ensure that safety
concerns are fixed promptly.
Thank you for bringing the Willis Street slow speed sign to our attention, you should have
already received an email from our transport engineer Orencio Gueco on 26 August to say
that he would be arranging for the Willis Street sign to be attended to. We can confirm the
sign on Willis Street has been amended and now flashes “Slow Down” when a vehicle
exceeds 30km/h.
We have responded to each of your questions below.
Policies – Questions 1 and 2 The Wellington City Council (the Council) has adopted the New Zealand Transport Agency
(NZTA) Speed Management Guide Volume 2 (2016). This provides advice on a toolbox of
speed management countermeasures which includes advisory speed signs. Please click
on the link to see guidance. This is the guidance used to ensure the Council is following
process.
https://www.nzta.govt.nz/assets/Safety/docs/speed-management-
resources/speed-management-toolbox-and-appendices-201611.pdf
We also have other policy/guidance on our website, which might be of use to you. Please
see below links.
Speed Limit Bylaws -
https://wellington.govt.nz/your-council/plans-policies-and-
bylaws/bylaws/wellington-consolidated-bylaw-2008/part-6_-speed-limits Lowering Speed Limits -
https://wellington.govt.nz/services/parking-and-roads/lower-
speed-limits
Slow down signs – Questions 3 and 4 Please see the attached document for the location, set speed limit and installation date of
each slow down sign in the city. As referenced, the Council uses the above guidance from
NZTA to ensure traffic engineers follow protocol.
On the matter of fault reporting and ongoing maintenance to ensure that we still meet the
guidance as set out by NZTA, the Council conducts routine annual maintenance; the signs
are also repaired as and when necessary following a report from Council staff, contractors
or the public. All the signs were checked and recalibrated as necessary last December. In
general they have proved to be reasonably reliable with about 14% requiring some
attention at the last inspection. These have also been adjusted to fit the correct speed
limit.
Willis Street sign – Question 5
The time to taken to reconfigure a fault is usually 3-5 working day depending on the type of
fault. In order to improve on our current fault reporting process, the Council will be looking
at the potential for automated fault reporting for this type of sign to mirror our current
automated systems for traffic signals, streetlights and school warning signs. This would
avoid the situation which arose at Willis Street where the traffic engineer responsible for
these devices was on leave and other available staffs was occupied on other priority work.
Thank you again for your request. I trust this information is of assistance to you.
Regards,
Asha Harry
Assurance Advisor
Wellington City Council | 2 of 2
