That’s how much time you save by driving at 36km/hr through the Rutherford Street/Waimea Road detour. The speed limit through the detour is 30km/hr and Nelson City Council is asking drivers to slow down and respect the residents.

“Keeping everyone safe during this project is our highest priority,” says Group Manager Infrastructure Alec Louverdis.

“The work on Waimea Road/Rutherford Street is vital and can’t be avoided, but it does mean that a substantial amount of traffic has to be detoured through these residential areas. We’ve lowered the speed limit to 30km/hr and have been monitoring speeds. The data shows that the median speed through the Rutherford Street section of the detour is 36km/hr. That sounds slow, but we need people to go slower and drive like they would on their own street – the time you’re saving on this 200m stretch by exceeding the speed limit is about five seconds, is that worth putting others at risk?

“We have put in a long list of measures to slow people down, including installing an extra VMS board (electronic message board), speed feedback signs, temporary roundabouts, additional bollards to improve traffic calming, and 30km/hr signs. We have also worked closely with schools in the area to help parents and caregivers get their children to their classrooms safely.

“Now that we have speed data, we will also look at introducing more safety measures. New line markings will slow traffic down outside of peak hours by narrowing the road even when there are no cars parked along it, and we are meeting with police to ask them to spend some more time at the detour site.”