News / Road Safety
30 kmh speed limit to be trialed in Brunswick and Coburg
30 kmh to be rolled out for 12 month trial; advocates say it will reduce accidents
Joanna Beard
A REDUCED speed limit of 30 kmh for a large section of Brunswick and part of Coburg has been approved for a 12-month trial by Merri-bek Council.
Expected to start later this year, the new speed limit will be implemented on council-controlled roads in parts of Brunswick and Brunswick East – excluding major roads like Sydney Road, Lygon Street and Glenlyon Road – and a residential precinct in Coburg.
It follows last year’s introduction of a 40 kmh speed limit for all roads controlled by the council. The council also recently approved a separate 30 kmh trial for Lygon Street.
While there has been some criticism for the long delay in trialing 30 kmh after it was first mooted last decade, cycling and walking groups have welcomed the plan. But the council has also been cautioned that lower speed limits may not be suitable for northern parts of the city, where there is a greater reliance on cars as the main form of transport.
According to a report to Wednesday night’s council meeting, a speed limit of 30 kmh would significantly reduce the risk of death or serious injury for pedestrians and cyclists in road collisions.
A similar speed limit trial in parts of the neighbouring city of Yarra since 2018 has resulted in a 51% reduction in crashes, the report, authored by the council’s Director of City Infrastructure, Anita Curnow, said.
It said crashes in Merri-bek were steadily increasing and 2023 saw the highest number of crashes since 2015 with 444 incidents reported, including two fatalities and 120 serious incidents requiring hospitalisation.
“Speed limit reductions are one of the most cost-effective measures available to councils to reduce the consequences of a mistake, the risk of a crash and the risk of fatal or serious injury if a crash does occur,” the report said.
“At 30 kmh, a person walking or riding has a 90% chance of surviving being hit by car – this drops to 60% survival rate at 40 kmh, and only 10% survival rate at 50 kmh. Impacts are greater for children and the elderly.”
In Brunswick, the new speed limit will be trialed in an area bordered by Sydney Road, Albion Street, Nicholson Street and Brunswick Road, and will also extend to the Breese Street pocket near Anstey Station. Within the trial area, Blyth Street and Glenlyon Road will continue to operate at current speed limits of 50 kmh.
The Coburg trial will be focused on an area west of Sydney Road with Gaffney, Sussex and Bell streets as its other borders. Although there was a fatal collision in Bell Street earlier this month, it will not be be part of the trial itself because it is a state-controlled road.
At council elections last year, most candidates indicated they would support a lower speed limit if they were elected.
Backing the motion, councillors Jay Iwasaki and Natalie Abboud recounted their own personal experiences of the impacts of road trauma and bicycle accidents as reasons for supporting a trial.
Oscar Yildiz, who represents a northern ward that will not be part of the trial, was the only councillor to oppose it.
He said the impact of the introduction of a 40 kmh speed limit across the city had yet to be fully assessed and blanket 30kmh suburban speed zones were not supported by VicRoads, the RACV or police.
Under the Department of Transport and Planning’s current speed zoning policy, local councils must seek state government approval and go through a case-by-case trial process in order to implement a 30kmh speed limit even on streets they control.
In its response to recommendations from a Parliamentary inquiry into road safety, the Victorian government has committed to making the process easier for councils wishing to adopt 30 kmh speed limits in the future.
Faith Hunter, convenor of Merri-bek Bicycle User Group, said she’d like to see cars travelling slower and fewer road collisions as a result of the trial.
“I think it was a really good outcome. Not only that councillors support the trials, but seeing so many of them understand the issues and the community’s concern,” she said. “I can understand some people might be sceptical about the impacts of the lower speed limits, but there’s a lot of data out there now, this isn’t a new idea.
“I question why people wouldn’t be willing to trial it. A 12-month trial will allow us to understand if it will work or not.”
Andrea Bunting, convenor of Walk on Merri-bek, said she was excited to see such strong support from the council for the trial
“It’s really in the state government’s court to do something now,” she said. “They need to amend their speed zone guidelines, so councils don’t have to go through this trial process.”
But Coburg resident Jason Clarke, who ran unsuccessfully for the council’s Harmony Park ward last year, said a 40 kmh speed limit was already working in keeping the community safe.
“Despite the activism people have already undertaken here, the good news is they’ve actually already achieved their goals of having safer streets,” he told the chamber.
“I ran in the election last year and I didn’t see anyone here propose this 30 kmh trial… no one was saying ’we demand 30 kmh streets for Merri-bek’.”
RACV Head of Policy, James Williams welcomed community focused reviews into speed limits.
“RACV advocates for speed limits to be reviewed on a targeted and case-by-case basis and for speed limit reductions to be supported by strong community engagement and education,” he said in a statement.
Merri-bek Council will apply for state government funding for the 30 kmh trial, and undergo community consultation before implementing the speed limit trial in the proposed areas.
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