In conjunction with VicRoads, Maribyrnong City Council has recently changed many local speed limits. They have changed zones from 50km/h to 40km/h, in the past, generally reserved for school zones or extremely busy areas like the Barkly Street shopping district. Zones that were 60km/h have also become 50km/h, and some zones previously only 40km/h during school times, are now permanently 40km/h.

If you are a road user, I'm sure you are tired of driving at a snail's pace for no good reason!

Let us now talk about the survey that seems like the driving force* that led to these changes.

*Please note that I emailed the Council asking for any data regarding road incidents that have led to these speed limit alterations and I did not receive a reply.

A 2016 survey was conducted 'door to door'...

"A total of approximately 4,985 households were approached to participate in the survey. Of these households, 2,841 were unattended when approached, were therefore not invited to participate, and played no further part in the research. A total of 1,341 refused the offer to participate in the research and eight hundred and three respondents completed the survey."

This is laughable... 83,515 population. 800 surveyed. 76% of 800 are dissatisfied with the speed of traffic on local roads and considered that speed to be too fast." That is 600 people. They were the ones home... The ones not home in the middle of the day are probably more likely to be road users and be against the reducing of speed limits. It's not accurate data at all. It is 0.7% of the population. Imagine a prime minister elected from 0.7% of the vote. Instead of paying hundreds of thousands of dollars on elaborate signage that doesn't work, and rocks, invest in a fair online survey platform.

A number of the areas reduced to 40km/h, or to 50km/h from 60km/h, are not areas where people are often crossing, or where the traffic density is high.

A number of streets, such as Mephan St, is an extremely wide road that is never busy at all. There is no need for that to all be 40km/h. The whole 2.3km straight stretch of Essex St does not need to be 40km/h. There was no reason to reduce the wide and vacant Mitchell Street to 50km/h. I could go on and on naming specific roads, but if you've driven around your local area, I'm sure you would have noticed what I have over the last 12 months.

The Council has admitted that their endgame is to get everyone walking or on bikes. They want to discourage motorists.The latest budget indicated that they are spending $5 million on bike infrastructure, whilst motorists, the ones who pay for the roads, continue to get shafted.

Give it another 10 years, after another whinging paltry percentage of the population complain, the Council gets the data they want, and they need something else to pass the time to justify their paycheck and waste our rates, everywhere will be 20km/h and you might as well keep the car in the garage.

Do we pay hundreds of dollars in rates and car registration every year for this?

Sign the petition and share to put pressure on the Council to reverse these changes!