The City of Merri-bek is planning a trial of speed limited 30km/h local streets in bike-dense Coburg, Brunswick and Brunswick East.
The trial will run for a 12-month period during which community feedback will be sought, and after which a full evaluation of its effectiveness will be undertaken.
The council has launched the initiative following a trend of rising crashes in the municipality, including pedestrians and bike riders. Crashes are now back to the levels of a decade ago.
The council estimates that the reduced speed limit will eliminate 6.5 fatal or serious crashes in the trial areas for each year it is in operation.
The report to the council explaining the proposal says speed limit reductions are one of the most cost-effective measures available to councils to reduce the consequences of a mistake, the risk of a crash and the risk of fatal or serious injury if a crash does occur.
At 30km/h, a person walking or riding has a 90% chance of surviving being hit by car – this drops to 60% at 40km/h, and only 10% at 50km/h, the report says, with impacts much greater for children and the elderly.
In neighbouring Yarra City Council, 30km/h trials resulted in a 51% reduction in all crashes, and a 70% reduction in serious crashes in areas with the 30km/h speed limit.
Sixty-eight per cent of residents living in the trial areas supported 30km/h speeds after the trials were implemented.
The council expects community support for the trial following strong support for the current 40km/h limit when it was adopted.
The two areas selected for the 30km/h trials have had 40km/h limits for over 10 years, pre-dating the recent wider 40km/h roll-out
According to Merri-bek, recent research has demonstrated that community support for 30km/h is strongest in existing school zones, extended school zones, shopping strips, dining strips, inner city residential streets and suburban residential streets.
The 30km/h speed limit trial applies only to selected local streets within the defined areas of Brunswick, Brunswick East and Coburg. Speed limit changes on other roads, including arterial roads, are outside the scope of this proposal.
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