AA sees red after Queen St traffic slowed to snail’s pace

The Automobile Association cannot understand why Auckland City Council has imposed snail-pace speed restrictions on Queen St.

The 30km/h zone was introduced late last year, stretching over a kilometre of Queen St’s shopping area from Mayoral Drive, near the Auckland Town Hall, to Customs St.

The council says the change is to protect pedestrians on one of Auckland’s most walked streets.

Karen Hay, the council’s manager of road safety, regards Queens St as first and foremost for pedestrians, and cars should be discouraged from using it.

“There is a focus on giving priority to people. The council is putting considerable effort into designing its streets,” she says.

However, AA spokesman Simon Lambourne thinks the change is “unwarranted”, because council data from 2004 showed the average vehicle speed along Queen St was only 31 km/h anyway.

He questions if there has ever been a serious issue with speed along the street.

“The AA is a staunch road safety advocate and we feel this change unfairly targets motorists and is about reducing the volume of traffic.”

The council says the AA is right but is not apologising.

“We are slowly beginning to re-balance the priority given to private vehicles to focusing on the quality of the pedestrian experience,” says Hay.

She says the council wants to create wider footpaths, double-phased traffic lights and fewer free left-hand turns – a pedestrian utopia.

Motorists caught doing 50 km/h in this area can expect to be fined $120 and receive 20 demerit points.