Roads ACT has admitted it could have communicated better a permanent reduction in the speed limit on a section of William Hovell Drive but denied it was gun-shy after the Gungahlin Drive Extension speed limit controversy.
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Territory and Municipal Services director-general Gary Byles has asked for a full internal report into a ''breakdown in communications'' within the directorate which did not see the reduced speed limit - from 90km/h to 80km/h - properly flagged to the public before it was put in place on Wednesday.
A spokeswoman for Territory and Municipal Services Minister Katy Gallagher said the directorate was usually very good at informing the public, taking a ''very proactive'' approach.
''In this case it's clear there was a breakdown in communications and there will be a review,'' she said.
But Opposition territory and municipal services spokesman Alistair Coe said the government shouldn't shift blame on to the public servants.
''It has been conveyed very badly and is just so indicative of so many projects in Canberra,'' he said.
''It should be standard practice for decisions like this to be notified to the public in advance. When you don't give sufficient warning, it leads to suspicion of entrapment in terms of speeding.''
Following inquiries from the media and members of the public, the ACT government issued a statement yesterday saying the speed limit on William Hovell Drive had been permanently reduced from 90km/h to 80km/h on the section between the Coppins Crossing Road intersection and 500m east of the Bindubi Street intersection.
The statement came one day after the reduced speed limit actually came into force on Wednesday.
Roads ACT director Tony Gill said there was no conscious attempt to hide the reduced speed limit but the job of informing people had not been done well enough.
''We should have done better there. It's a lesson learnt for Roads ACT. We should have provided more information to people, particularly after we successfully advised people of the changed speed limit on the Gungahlin Drive Extension,'' he said.
''We could have flagged the changed speed limit on William Hovell Drive a week ago. There are flashing lights showing the changed speed limit, we should have done that last week. We could have communicated it better.''
Four local politicians, including Ms Gallagher, also failed to mention the speed reduction when they issued a joint statement earlier this month about new road safety projects in the ACT, including on William Hovell Drive.
However, ACT Black Spots Committee chairman, Federal Member for Fraser Andrew Leigh, said the reduced speed limit on William Hovell Drive had been revealed in a media release last September.
That information had not been repeated in the April 8 release - just 10 days before the new speed limit came into force - because the details were ''already out there''.
Mr Leigh said the ACT Black Spots Committee had recommended the reduced speed limit to Federal Transport Minister Anthony Albanese who had approved it.
He said the reduced speed limit on William Hovell Drive was a case where ''the benefits would be at least twice as much as the costs''.
''No one likes reduced speed limits but the fact is they save lives and reduce crashes,'' Mr Leigh said.
Mr Gill said there had been 11 ''casualty crashes'' - those causing injury - at the intersections of William Hovell Drive and Coppins Crossing Road and the intersection of William Hovell Drive and Bindubi Street in the past five years.
Between 35,000 and 40,000 vehicles travelled on that section of road.
Mr Gill said speed had been a factor in the crashes.
''A report completed in August 2011, which assessed the safety of William Hovell Drive, recommended that the speed limit be reduced from 90km/h to 80km/h,'' he said.
Mr Gill said the changes brought the stretch into line with what was happening elsewhere in Australia.
William Hovell Drive was the only road in the ACT with traffic lights that had a speed limit higher than 80km/h.
''The 80km/h speed is consistent with speed limits on other arterial roads with traffic light intersections in the ACT and in other jurisdictions across Australia.''
Mr Coe said it appeared the more dangerous parts of William Hovell Drive were still 90km/h and there was not sufficient signage to signal the speed change.
