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Sydney drivers will be forced to slow down after the City of Sydney announced they would be cutting speed limits to 40km/h across the local area.
The changes will affect the current default 50km/h speed limits in Glebe, Forest Lodge, Beaconsfield and Waterloo. The limit will also apply to some sections of roads with 50km/h speed limits in Annandale, Redfern, Alexandria, Zetland and Woolloomooloo.
Lord Mayor Clover Moore said, “It is everyone’s responsibility to make our roads as safe as they possibly can be for people walking, riding and driving.”
“Studies have shown that the survival rates for people hit by a vehicle drastically improve at lower speeds like 40km/h,” she continued.
“When people drive at safer speeds it reduces the number of crashes and their severity, improves safety for people walking and riding and helps to support better place-making. Not only will our streets be safer as a result of these important changes, they’ll be quieter and have less exhaust emissions.”
The move comes as part of a wider effort to reduce speed limits in NSW. In March, the adjoining Inner West Council voted unanimously to lower speed limits on local roads to 40km/h.
Sydney’s Lord Mayor also said the council would continue working with Transport NSW to reduce speed limits to 30km/h in the city centre and “other high activity areas where there are lots of people walking and riding.”
The council has pushed for years to reduce speed limits in the city centre to discourage driving and create a more walkable city.