• By Simeon Brown, Member of Parliament for Pakuranga

If you’ve driven around Pakuranga in the last few weeks, you’ll have seen the speed limits on several of our major roads, including Pakuranga Road, have been restored to their previous limits of 60km/h.

In late March, Auckland Transport (AT) completed work to restore these local speed limits after they were lowered as part of the last Labour Government’s blanket speed limit reductions policy.

For several years now, these slower limits have been a point of contention for local Pakuranga residents, who have consistently raised it with me as a major issue that needed to be addressed.

It was also a key concern for those in other areas around the country who had also seen unnecessary reductions to the speed limits on major roads in their towns and cities.

As a result, the National Government campaigned in 2023 on reversing these blanket speed limit reductions on local streets and key arterial roads.

When we were elected and I was asked to serve as Minister of Transport, fulfilling this promise was one of my key priorities, and I’m proud to have been able to deliver for Pakuranga residents and commuters across the country.

Our sensible speed limit rule also strikes a balance by enforcing slower speed limits outside schools during pick-up and drop-off times only, rather than slowing everyone down during other times of the day.

The reality is that, in most cases, the reductions undertaken by Labour were made without any real evidence of a problem, Pakuranga Road included.

In fact, the data they initially used to justify the reductions in Auckland was taken at the height of the Covid-19 lockdowns in 2020 and 2021, hardly a reliable sample when many commuters were stuck at home and off the road.

Those of us who drive these local roads every day know they’re safe to drive at the higher limit of 60km/h and are able to accommodate such speeds.

The restoration of these speed limits, and the impending 2026 opening of the Reeves Road Flyover, will better enable Pakuranga residents to get where they need to go quickly and safely.

Thank you to the thousands of locals who signed my petition back in 2023 calling for this change to be made.

Your support made this possible!