School Zone Trial on Multilane Roads – Queensland

In Queensland, school zones are not permitted on multilane roads. However, a number of multilane roads in the State have school zones installed that do not comply with the current guidelines. There is increasing demand to install school zones on multilane roads. While some other states permit school zones on multilane roads, there is very little information on compliance rates with the reduced speed zones. The Department of Transport and Main Roads in Queensland commenced a year long trial at the start of the 2010 school year of school zones on multilane roads throughout the State to determine driver compliance with the reduced speed limit over a sustained period. Four types of school zones signs were trialled to determine if any particular type of sign was more effective than the others in regulating vehicle speeds during the school zone times. These included static school zone signs, enhanced school zone signs, variable speed limit signs and vehicle activated signs. This paper outlines experiences in Queensland with the installation of school zones on multilane roads including site selection, before and after speed surveys and signage installation challenges and presents the findings of the trial.