Inner West Mayor Darcy Byrne
Inner West Council is progressing with the rollout of speed reductions on local roads to make them safer for residents, cyclists and pedestrians. More than 50% of local roads in the Inner West are now covered by these new speed limits and the rollout is expected to be completed in the coming months.
To date, local roads in the Balmain Peninsula, Enmore, Marrickville, Tempe, Stanmore, Sydenham, Petersham and Dulwich Hill have had 40kmh speed limits introduced. In partnership with Transport for NSW we are looking to introduce 40km per hour speed limits on more local roads across the whole of the Inner West in the coming months.
Several State and regional roads in the Inner West have also had their speed limits reduced by Transport for NSW.
Council consulted local residents about these proposed changes and over 80% of residents told us they supported our local streets having consistent 40km per hour speed limits.
Reducing speeds on local streets has been demonstrated to significantly reduce crashes, injuries and fatalities as well as improving the amenity and liveability of our neighbourhoods.
All of this can be achieved with minimal delay to travel times for motorists and increases the potential to improve bus travel times across the Inner West.
Mayor Darcy Byrne said, “Inner Westies have enthusiastically embraced these changes because they understand what a huge difference in safety such a small change in speed makes.
“If a car hits a pedestrian at 50km/h, there is just a 10% chance the pedestrian will survive. That chance of survival goes up to 60% if the car is travelling at 40km/h.
“Most of our streets were planned and built before the invention of the motor car, so finding the balance between cars, bikes and people is crucial.
“As well as making them safer for pedestrians and cyclists, these reductions also make our streets more pleasant places to live with less carbon pollution.
“We consulted with our community before this rollout and they overwhelmingly supported this change because reducing speed limits to 40km/h across our local area will help save lives.”
For media enquiries please contact Jonny Browne, jonny.browne@innerwest.nsw.gov.au