From Binjang Radio and WDL
The NSW State Minister for Roads and Minister for Regional Transport is under fire yet again after cutting the Mitchell Highway speed limit between Wellington and Dubbo from 110 to 100kmh.
According to Member for Dubbo Dugald Saunders the decision was made without any consultation with the community and that Minister Aitchison had directed her department to secretly make this announcement online to avoid answering any questions, and without investing in what is actually needed long-term, to prevent more injuries and deaths from occurring.
Mr Saunders said focusing purely on speed was shortsighted, and what was needed was proper investment in the road.
Dubbo mayor Josh Black did not mince words, labelling the speed reduction a "ridiculous decision from Sydney-based bureaucrats that doesn't actually help people out here".
Cr Black argued the root cause of the highway's danger wasn't the 110kmh speed limit itself, but the severe lack of investment over the past 15 years, leaving drivers with no safe places to pass due to the lack of overtaking lanes.
Transport for NSW executive director Damien Pfeiffer justified the decision citing safety concerns.
Transport modelling suggests the 10kph reduction could cut fatalities by 27 per cent and serious injuries by 21pc, while adding "less than a minute" to the average commuter's journey.
The accuracy of the modelling has not been confirmed.
The news of the speed limit changes comes after an incident just last month on the Mitchell Highway, south of Wellington, involving a truck and four cars, which left multiple people injured.
That section of road is posted at 100kmh.
The changes are due to come into effect on June 22nd.
Editor’s note
Road safety is such an easy option when the actual fact is the government has spent millions of dollars on band-aid remedies of fixing potholes instead of rebuilding the highway.
Travel delays while roadworks continue in the Deep Creek area are as long as 20 minutes.
When a member of the Legislative Council and Minister under three Labor Premiers, Wellington’s Tony Kelly fought hard to gain this 110kph speed limit in the 1990s and road users didn’t hear Transport department complaints back then.