Media advisory
24 April 2026
South Wairarapa District Council is rolling out lower speed limits around the district’s rural roads from next week with new signage to support the changes.
The lower speed limits will impact roads across the district in areas from the east and south coasts to Featherston and Greytown rural zones:
- Greytown – south of the township and at Woodside
- Cape Palliser
- Western Lake and Ocean Beach
- Kahutara
- Lake Ferry
- Ruakokopatuna and Haurangi
- Whiterock and Tora
- Hinekura, Bush Gully and Pahaoa
- Featherston south and east rural areas
The majority of speed limit changes will be made to unsealed roads and see a reduction from 100 km/h to 80 km/h. There are a few areas, such as the mountainous Cape Palliser Road and Western Lake Roads that will reduce to 60km/h and areas of Lake Ferry and Ngawi, which will reduce to 40km/h to account for residential areas with no footpaths.
Rural roads are the final tranche to be implemented this year as part of the Council’s Speed Management Plan (approved in late 2025 by the Director of Land Transport). The first phase was around schools in January with variable speed limits put in place before and after school bell times. Peri-urban areas around the Martinborough, Greytown and Featherston townships were impacted with lower speed limits over the past month.
The changes will begin from next week and it is anticipated they may take several weeks to fully implement.
Find out more on the Council’s website.