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Push to lower speed limit through Lucknow back to 50km/h
June 19, 2023
By Peter Holmes
The speed limit through the small but hectic village of Lucknow should be reduced to 50km/h according to the Lucknow Community Committee - which advises Orange City Council on strategic policy relating to the village of Lucknow.
The committee is seeking assistance from council to contact Transport for New South Wales (TfNSW) “and request a reduction in the current speed limit through the village of Lucknow from 60km/h to 50km/h”.
Councillors will debate the issue at Tuesday night’s meeting (June 20, 2023).
The staff recommendation to councillors slightly waters down the words from the Lucknow committee, changing the request for change to “a review of the Lucknow speed limit and consider a reduction to 50km/h through the village”.
Council staff stated that in 2012, the then Roads and Maritime Services (now TfNSW) increased the speed limit in Lucknow from 50km/h to 60km/h.
The Lucknow Community Committee, which is chaired by councillor Jack Evans, stated that there are several reasons why the current 60km/h speed limit is no longer suitable.
“These reasons include:
“• Safety: As the number of businesses (including coffee shops, cafes, a service station, a hotel/tavern and retail outlets) located on the Mitchell Highway of Lucknow continues to grow, so too does the number of visitors. As people arrive in the village, they park on the northern side of the road and are then left with the challenge of crossing a busy highway to access businesses and services on the southern side of the road and vice versa.
“Members of the Lucknow Community Committee are concerned with the safety of pedestrians and those using the local bus service, including young school children.
“It is the Committee's opinion that by reducing the speed limit from 60km/h to 50km/h, pedestrians would be able to cross the road more safely, as they do in other regional towns and villages across the state.
“• Visitor destination: Lucknow now has several destination businesses that attract visitors. The village is also home to the Wentworth Mine that welcomes regular visitors every month.
“Lucknow has recently been listed with the Australian Tourism Data Warehouse, the national tourism attraction database, and an application to introduce Historic Town signage has commenced.
“To attract more visitors to the area, the Lucknow Community Committee believes the village needs to be an inviting place for tourists to stop and spend time in.
“A reduction in the speed limit would encourage more visitors to do so.
“• Scoping Study: In a Scoping Study conducted in 2015, a detailed plan for the village of Lucknow was developed. This Study introduced new tree plantings, pedestrian crossings, centre medians/refuges and other key elements that would see the area next to the roadway itself narrowed, making it a safe place for people to move freely around the village.
“The Lucknow Community Committee believes that a speed limit reduction would complement the plans outlined in the Scoping Study.
“The study found: ‘The highway streetscape within the town is simple but not attractive: it has few trees, is very wide in parts and doesn’t cater well to pedestrians.’”
The study was adopted by Council in 2015. Eight years on and Lucknow still doesn't look much like the fancy image from the brochure.
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