Lower speed limits for Canberra streets must be backed by evidence: NRMA

The association's spokesman, Peter Khoury, said determining speed limits following a careful assessment of the evidence meant the public could have confidence roads had been rated appropriately.

"We believe that speed limits should be evidence based and that means looking at a number of factors including the performance of the road, traffic volumes, crash history, and the engineering of the road," Mr Khoury said.

The comments come after the ACT government this week revealed it would consult on lowering the speed limit on access roads - generally residential streets with low traffic - from 50km/h to 40km/h.

Safety advocates argued the limit should in fact be dropped to 30km/h, which was a safer speed to protect vulnerable road users and encourage other uses for suburban residential streets in line with a United Nations-backed global movement to slow traffic in built-up areas.

Transport Minister Chris Steel on Thursday said more people had been walking and cycling in their suburbs since the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, which meant it was important to consider whether speed limits should be lowered.

"I think there is going to be a strong willingness from the community to contemplate reducing speed limits down to 40km/h," Mr Steel said.

Meanwhile, the ACT Greens have welcomed a government active travel plan that commits to separated cycle paths, but have warned the government will need to bridge the gap between talking about active travel and investing in adequate infrastructure.

Greens active travel spokeswoman Jo Clay said the government's budget allocations for active travel infrastructure did not add up.

"In June this year the [Transport] Minister [Chris Steel] said he was spending one fifth of our active travel budget on a sealed highway shoulder on the Monaro Highway that can accommodate cycling," Ms Clay said.

"This is not dedicated cycle infrastructure. The Monaro Highway shoulder being considered active travel infrastructure is not in line with Australian standards around safety and should not count as the single biggest part of our active travel spend.

"Along with the fact that few cyclists will want to share the road on a 100km/h highway shoulder, women have told us that they are particularly affected by the lack of safe active travel options in general around our city and have called for separate infrastructure."

Ms Clay reiterated the Greens' call that 20 per cent of the ACT's transport infrastructure budget be spent on dedicated active travel projects.

"The money needs to deliver safe, usable infrastructure that will encourage Canberrans to ride, walk, or wheel around our city without having to compete with cars. On paper it looks like we're getting close but the numbers don't stack up," she said.

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Ms Clay released an active travel discussion paper earlier this year that included suggestions that Canberrans be given the option to ride a bicycle without a helmet and car-free zones in different parts of the city should be trialled this year.

The discussion paper also included a suggestion that speed limits be lowered in some areas.

Opposition transport spokesman Mark Parton said active travel was important to reduce congestion and improve public health, but the plan showed the government had dropped the ball over more than a decade and was now playing catch up.

"As someone who chooses to ride my bike to work regularly from Tuggeranong, I have an understanding of the barriers that stop many people, particularly from the outer suburbs, participating in active travel which includes access to public transport," Mr Parton said.

"We welcome the opportunity Canberrans have to provide input into this process but there are a lot of things that need to be done here and one of those is addressing the current failings of the transport system in the ACT."

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