Background
The City of Marion are seeking the views of the community regarding the reduction of the speed limit within Plympton Park to 40km/h following concerns raised by local residents. The 40km/h speed limit would apply to all streets highlighted on the map below and is bounded by and within:
- The Tram Line and Cross Road* to the north
- Marion Road* to the east
- Bray Street to the south (Bray Street would remain 50km/h)
- Morphettville Racecourse to the west
*Arterial Roads under care and control of Department for Infrastructure and Transport (DIT) to remain 60 km/h
Plympton Park Context
Council has recently received concerns from Plympton Park residents relating to vehicle speeds and volumes on local roads. One potential treatment to address these concerns over a large catchment area which has been adopted by several other South Australian metropolitan Councils, is the reduction of suburb speed limits to 40km/h. Council is seeking the views of the community as to whether a 40km/h speed limit in Plympton Park would be supported.
Ultimately, the State Government is required to review and approve any speed limit change on Council roads (outlined within the Speed Limit Guideline for South Australia). Nevertheless, essential criteria for a successful submission and implementation by Council for a speed limit reduction, requires a review of the traffic data across the area (average vehicle speeds) and community/council support.
South Australian Strategic Context
The State Government’s Road Safety Strategy strives for zero lives lost on our roads by 2050 Road Safety Strategy. The 10-year target is to halve the total number of lives lost and achieve at least a 30% reduction in serious injuries by 2030. Relevant strategic focus areas include Road User Behaviour (supporting and enforcing safer road user behaviour), Roads (safer design, construction and maintenance of road infrastructure), Active Travel and Public Transport (Improving safety for people using all travel modes, etc).
The State Road Safety Strategy seeks that local Councils use the “Movement and Place” approach when planning road safety treatments and setting speed limits. This approach acknowledges that roads serve a ‘movement’ function for transport, as well as a ‘place’ function (land access) for people to live, work and engage in civic life. Local streets have both a small movement and a small place function, and therefore are typically suited to lower speed limits for community amenity and safety for more vulnerable road users.
