Deciding speed limits

Waka Kotahi, as a road controlling authority, is responsible for setting new speed limits on New Zealand’s state highways. Changing speed limits is a legal process that involves a number of steps. 

Speed review process

Ongoing engagement

While technical advice is an important part of speed reviews, local knowledge and experience of using our roads is also vital to this process. We want all communities to have a chance to give their feedback on how safety interventions can be managed in their area, and on any proposed changes to speed limits.

We actively seek input and feedback from our Māori and local government partners, key stakeholders and the community. It’s these conversations that help us get valuable insights and local knowledge on how people use the road, and their concerns around road safety.

We consider people’s feedback alongside the technical information that our road safety specialists have collated to help us decide how we are best to manage safety on our roads and ensure speed limits are safe and appropriate for all road users. 

Formal consultation on proposed speed limit changes

Changing a speed limit is a legal process that includes a formal consultation step. This is where we show people how we plan to manage speeds on our roads, including proposed speed limit changes, which has been developed and refined using the technical information as well as feedback gathered from our engagement.

During this consultation stage, we ask the public and stakeholders if they have any additional information we should consider, that might have an impact on our final decision.

Decision on proposed speed limit changes

Once we have considered all consultation feedback and made a decision on whether or not to accept the proposed speed limit changes, we publish the decision on our website. We also send an update to everyone who provided a submission on the outcome of the decision.

New speed limits

When implementation begins, we will let people know when they can expect to see the new speed limits in place.