Brimbank council has said it is yet to fully consider the state government’s recent changes around 30km/h speed limits, as findings from a new study reveal dropping speed limits in residential zones would significantly increase safety.
Modelling by RMIT University’s Centre for Urban Research showed bicycle riders’ exposure to roads with high levels of traffic stress dropped by 30 per cent when the speed limit was reduced from 50km/h to 30km/h.
The findings come as Victoria enacts a new speed limit law allowing local councils to propose 30km/h limits in school zones and local streets.
Study lead author Dr Afshin Jafari said while driving at 30km/h might seem slow, the limit mostly applies to residential streets so it has little impact on average car trips.
“Most trips should use residential streets only at the start and finish, so 30km/h rather than 50km/h on those short sections makes little difference,” he said.
“Slowing traffic makes bicycle riding less stressful, encouraging more people to choose bikes as a safe and viable mode of transport.”
Dr Jafari said lowering speed limits was a practical, low-cost way to improve cycling safety.
“Installing physical barriers on every local street would be ideal, but it’s expensive and slow,” he said.
“Slowing down vehicles is a cheap and effective way to improve safety while we wait for longer-term infrastructure upgrades.”
During the September Brimbank council meeting, a resident asked whether council would consider reducing all speed limits in Albion to 40km/h to curb dangerous driving.
Council said it does not plan to introduce a reduced speed limit across the suburb at this stage.
“Generally, 40km/h speed zones are only introduced on roads in high-risk zones such as outside schools or activity centres and in some cases along active transport routes which carry significant numbers of pedestrians and cyclists,” a council spokesperson told Star Weekly.
“We have introduced traffic calming treatments on a number of roads and key intersections across Albion in recent years and continually look at how we can further improve road safety across Brimbank.”
The spokesperson said the recent road safety improvements included installing a number of road humps, speed cushions, traffic islands and raised thresholds across Albion.
