Speed Limits

The Department of Transport are the responsible road management authority for all speed limits in Victoria. Traffic engineers and other specialists at the Department of Transport come together to set appropriate speeds, within statutory guidelines. Victorian Speed Zone Guidelines provide a framework to help the Department of Transport make informed, accurate and consistent speed management decisions for Victorian communities.

 

Speed limit management

We have a strong commitment to eliminate severe road trauma, as demonstrated by the Council committing to becoming Victoria’s first ‘Towards Zero’ municipality in 2016 and the adoption of our Mornington Peninsula Towards Zero 2020-2025 Road Safety Strategy.

A review has been undertaken of the speed limit across five sections of road (see below). The review was based on the Victorian Department of Transport’s (DoT) Speed Zoning Guidelines which considers factors such as the type and width of road, the land use abutting the road, the number of properties and driveways, the presence of pedestrians and cyclists, crash risk, traffic volume, and any crashes that have occurred. There has also been a number of community requests to investigate these speed limits.

Based on investigations, applications have been made to the DoT to implement the speed limits that are appropriate on these five sections of road:

  • Bentons Road, Mount Martha between Moorhead Avenue and Century Drive (currently 70 kilometres per hour [km/h]). The assessment determined that the appropriate speed limit for this section of Bentons Road is 60 km/h.
  • Arthurs Seat Road, Red Hill between Whitehill Road and Shoreham Road. The assessment determined that the appropriate speed limit for this section of Arthurs Seat Road is 60 km/h.
  • Hotham Road, Sorrento and Portsea between Melbourne Road and Back Beach Road. The assessment determined that the appropriate speed limit for this section of Hotham Road is 60 km/h.
  • Browns Road, Rye between Dundas Street and Tasman Drive. The assessment determined that the appropriate speed limit for this section of Browns Road is 50 km/h.
  • Grant Road, Somerville between Eramosa Road East and the beginning of the 80 km/h section north of Speedwell Street. The assessment determined that the appropriate speed limit for this section of Grant Road is 50 km/h.

In addition to the current applications above, the following register outlines the Shire’s other high priority roads that are considered appropriate for further investigations and possible speed limit reduction applications to DoT.

Speed limit register - 2023(PDF, 158KB)

If you have any queries or feedback please contact us at:  trafficrequests@mornpen.vic.gov.au

Rural roads

In rural Victoria, the default speed limit outside of built-up areas is 100 km/h. This default speed limit operates on rural roads where there are no other speed limit signs. Many of the Shire’s rural roads are now signed as 80km/h posted speed limits, which is a safer speed for these road conditions.

Built up areas

The default speed limit for Victoria’s roads in built-up areas is 50 km/h and applies on all roads in suburban areas where there are no speed limit signs displayed. Some of our residential areas have signed 40km/h speed limits. As high pedestrian and cyclist activity occurs in built-up areas, you should consider travelling at a speed well below the maximum speed limit.

School zones

School speed zones are reduced-speed limit 40km/h areas located around schools. They’re designed to keep kids safe by lowering the speed limit closest to the school. Some school speed zones only operate before and after school, while others are all the time.

Commercial activity areas

40 km/h speed limit zones now apply in many of the Shire’s busy commercial areas because of high level pedestrian activity and a crash history involving pedestrians. These limits are clearly marked with speed limit signage and advance warning signs. 

To learn more, download our Speed Limits Fact File(PDF, 208KB) .

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