The 40kmph flashing displays alert drivers to the part-time speed restrictions for 35 minutes before the schools start in the mornings and for 20 minutes after they close.
The new safety zones are on:
• Waiwhetu Road for Epuni School
• Wainui Road for Our Lady of the Rosary
• Waterloo Road for Chilton St James and St Bernard’s College.
The signs are fully automated using web-based technology initiated by council.
Council’s Road Safety Coordinator Jan Simmons says the 40kmph safety zones are an important tool to encourage drivers to slow down and be more vigilant during peak ‘school runs’.
“It’s always a busy time on our roads before and after school starts with families dropping off and picking up their children. The signs are designed to slow motorists and encourage them to watch out for students crossing the road.
“We want to improve safety on our roads and reducing speeds during these peak times is one way of doing this.
“40kmph zones have been introduced outside our highest risk schools, but it’s important for drivers to remember that whenever they are passing a location where there are kids about, they should slow down and look carefully at what’s happening on both sides of the road.”
Hutt City’s first safety zone was established outside Randwick School in February 2011, and was the first in the Wellington region.
Safety zones are also in place on Kings Crescent, Central Hutt, for Eastern Hutt School; Wellington Road, Wainuiomata, for Arakura School; Eastern Hutt Road, Taita, for Taita College; and Parkway, Wainuiomata, for Wainuiomata High School and Intermediate, and Konini Primary.