The speed limit on a section of the Mid Western Highway on the western outskirts of Grenfell will be reduced to improve safety for all road users and local residents.
Transport for NSW conducted a speed zone review along a 500-metre section of Grafton Street (Mid Western Highway) following a request by a resident who raised safety concerns over access to and from homes as vehicles drove past in the existing 80 km/h zone.
Transport for NSW Executive Director Partnerships and Integration West Damien Pfeiffer said the review assessed a number of factors including location, crash history, road environment, the number of access points, road usage, traffic mix and traffic volumes.
“Grafton Street (Mid Western Highway) is a State Road managed by Transport for NSW and the 500-metre review area includes four regularly-used accesses,” Mr Pfeiffer said.
“The review found that the Safe Intersection Sight Distances (SISD) for those accesses fell short of the recommended distances for an 80 km/h zone but were in line with the recommended safe distances for a 50 km/h zone.
“The recommendation was to extend the existing 50km/h speed limit for vehicles heading west out of Grenfell by 500 metres, extending from 270 metres west of Bradley Street to 770 metres west of Bradley Street.
“The lower speed limit will reduce the risk of a crash in the area and also reduce the severity of impact if a crash should occur.”
The lower speed limit comes into effect from Thursday 18 December with new roadside signage to be installed. The change will add just 13 seconds to the average trip through Grenfell.
Local police and Weddin Shire Council have been consulted and both support the change.
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