Wodonga's mayor says his council will not be following its Albury counterpart and moving towards wide-scale reductions in speed limits on roads in the city.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
Ron Mildren was reacting to a plan to cut vehicle speed limits to 40kmh in the CBDs of Albury and Lavington and to 50kmh along routes such as Waugh Road and Kaitlers Road.
Albury Council at its meeting on Tuesday, June 11, will debate a recommendation to adopt those alterations and submit them to Transport for NSW for approval.
That follows Albury Council adopting MOVE: The Albury Wodonga Integrated Transport Strategy which states "existing speed limits in many urban areas result in unsafe road environments".
It recommends a "review of speed zones in built up areas".
Cr Mildren said the decision by Albury Council staff to push for reductions demonstrated why Wodonga Council opted not to endorse MOVE in a 4-3 vote in March, 2024.
At that time, Wodonga councillor Libby Hall said the transport plan was putting cars at the bottom of a hierarchy and colleague Kev Poulton expressed concerns about a bias from those that do not ride pushbikes.
Cr Mildren told The Border Mail on Monday, June 10, that "we don't propose to go into that strategy and look at those speed restrictions".
"That's not to say if there was a specific issue that we wouldn't specifically look at that, but it will not be as a blanket approach," Cr Mildren said.
He argued that reducing to speed limits to 40kmh and 50kmh was bad for the local economy.
"It's not productive, it's not good for business, it's not good for people's movements," Cr Mildren said.
He noted there may be a safety upside, while also declaring "you could say travelling at 5kmh gives you benefits as well".
Albury MP Justin Clancy also expressed unease at such a sweeping level of change, citing reductions in Thurgoona as a key issue.
"I'm concerned that this is a bit of a blanket approach, so hopefully council weigh up safety and the needs of the community in relation to transport options," Mr Clancy said.
He said he would not have a formal role in the process, even though it is subject to approval by a state authority.
Albury Council's local traffic committee meeting member Alice Glachan said the report, to go to this week's meeting, had been discussed at the transport group's gathering on May 9.
However, she does not agree with various proposals such as Kaitlers Road and having a CBD 40km/h zone beyond a street either side of Dean Street.
"I think some of the suggestions are too significant and a greater refinement I believe would be more appropriate," Cr Glachan said.
"I'm really looking forward to our community providing us with feedback as to how we should be dealing with these commuter precincts and what the emphasis should be."
Reaction from the community on Facebook to The Border Mail story outlining the planned changes was generally unfavourable with calls for greater road maintenance.
Kevin Paech wrote: "This is a joke! It will just make the congestion worse and people will find rat runs to go around the 40kms speed limits."
Stephen Soggee noted drivers "lose their nut" when others do 40kmh through a roadworks zone so "why they think 40 will help.... I have no idea".
