Down in Tasmania the speed limit on a stretch of Hobart’s East Derwent Highway has been reduced from 100km/h to 80km/h.
This is on a 2.3km section between Geilston Bay and Risdon.
The highway is a trunk road that carries heavy commuter traffic, much like the Brooker Highway, on the eastern side of the River Derwent.
The highway starts at the roundabout with Midland Highway at Bridgewater and heads south as a dual-lane, single carriageway road, connecting with the Bowen Bridge over the River Derwent.
It widens to a four-lane, dual-carriageway road through Risdon, narrowing again to a dual-lane, single-carriageway road through Geilston Bay, and then widening to a four-lane, single-carriageway road to eventually terminate at the Lindisfarne Interchange at Rose Bay, near the eastern side of the Tasman Bridge leading into central Hobart.
This change was approved following a review by the Department of State Growth’s Transport Group, which acted on community concerns.
State Growth pointed to rising traffic from Risdon Vale and nearby housing developments, along with a higher crash rate at the Sugarloaf Road intersection.
“The safer speed limit will reduce the likelihood and severity of crashes by giving drivers more time to react to turning vehicles at the Sugarloaf Road and East Derwent Highway intersection,” the department said.
New signs have been installed and truckies who negotiate the stretch will need to be wary of the change.
A speed limit reduction along the Flinders Highway through the hamlet of Torrens Creek resulted in hundreds of truckies being nabbed by a hidden camera.
Some copped a $1200 fine and loss of three demerit points.