Improving more than 150 speed limit signs on the ACT’s arterial roads is a good start, but upgrades should extend to more residential areas, according to one local road safety campaigner.
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Work is underway on upgrading speed limit signage at 164 locations on the capital’s arterial roads, following a review undertaken by Roads ACT last year.
The $65,000 job comes after 700 signs were upgraded in 2011, to bring ACT road signage in line with Australian Standards.
But creator of website ACTroads.org Alex Turini applauded the government for their recent work on improving signage on arterial roads, but said a more active approach still needed to be taken in residential areas of the territory.
“It’s a good start, but there’s a long way to go. The ACT still has most, in fact the majority, of our residential streets don’t comply with this standard,” Mr Turini said.
“There’s still a lot of confusion in terms of which speed limits apply where.”
Mr Turini, an IT worker, started ACTroads.org in 2011 to assist in campaigning for better safety provisions and signage in the capital, and said upgrades to speed signs were important to encourage safer driving.
“Having speed limits that are clearly zoned, it would just help reinforce to the motoring public that speed limits are something that we need to obey,” he said.
A spokesman for Roads ACT said the work currently underway would keep the 3300 signs on Canberra’s arterial roads up to date with the most recent Australian Standards, and would assist with road safety.
"It’s really important to make sure the public know what the speed limit is,” he said.
“That’s what this is about, is trying to make sure we’ve got the appropriate speed limit appropriately signed.”
The 164 locations will receive upgrades to ensure speed signs are placed on standalone posts, are visible on both sides of a carriageway when limits change, and are visibly repeated after intersections.
The project also includes increasing the speed limit on the Gungahlin Drive off ramps at Belconnen Way up from 60km/h to 80km/h.
But he said there were no immediate plans to begin reviewing signage on residential roads around the ACT.
“The arterials tend to have a range of limits … so the arterial network is a lot more complicated in terms of different speed zones. Once you’re in residential areas, we have the 50km/h default,” he said.
