A number of residents who live along the Boorowa to Narrawa Road have shared their frustration and anger over the change by Transport NSW to the speed limit on the Boorowa to Narrawa Road that came into effect last week.

According to most, they are frustrated that there was no consultation or advanced warning that the change would be coming into effect and that though they will need to travel the required 80km/h on the bitumen road, as soon as they turn off it they are able to travel 100km/h on the unsealed roads.

A group of locals are calling for the Transport NSW team and the Minister to come out and meet with them and to visit the road.

Dr Amy Kelly is one of the locals who lives off the stretch of road that joins Boorowa to Rugby and Crookwell and has estimated that it will add an extra five to seven minutes in travel time to and from Boorowa and believes that the difference will impact school children, stock and supply trucks and extend their working week.

"I think though what is the most frustrating thing, is that we're all agreeing if it's unsafe or it needs work on the road, that's fine, if there's an area or a small section of the road that needs the speed limit reduced, I think that's completely reasonable," Dr Kelly said.

"But, to make the entire route to Boorowa 80km/h is so impractical.

"It's absurd, it makes no sense given that they have recently put up railings on the side of the road.

"It's unbelievable and it's just bureaucracy gone mad quite frankly."

Some of the residents see the move as a way of further cost shifting to the local Council or defunding regional roads.

"I'm very suspicious that this is classic Minns government operations where they are cost shifting back to local government or they are essentially defunding regional roads by reducing the speed limit," Dr Kelly said.

"It makes no sense for that major highway between two moderate to large size regional towns to be reduced to 80km/h.

"The only reason why I can think that would be done is to reduce their costs so they don't have to fund it to a standard of 100km/h."

Dr Kelly said that as a community they would like to see the decision reviewed.

"We'd also like to see some personal input from the state government, from the Transport Minister, from Transport NSW, actually have a person on the ground, come out to the area and drive on the road and see exactly what the road is like," Dr Kelly said.

"And to view themselves, rather than just putting it into some ridiculous algorithm in the computer that spits out this number."

The community believes that businesses and tourism in the area will suffer as a result of the change.

"Quite frankly, it's just the most extraordinary decision," Dr Kelly said.

Hilltops Council Mayor Brian Ingram spoke on the change in the Ordinary Meeting held last week for the the establishment of a Local Transport Forum.

"We traced it back to a Traffic Committee meeting in March 18 months ago," Cr Ingram said.

"I'm as guilty as anyone else, sometimes you brush over those minutes of that committee, but having said that, the minutes of that meeting that came to Council to say ok to and acknowledge had a section of road to have the speed reduced and to go to Transport for NSW.

"Which, was fair enough, there's a section of it that's not too good.

"There's a section that a lot of money has been spent on, so what happened next?

"Transport for NSW took over, Transport for NSW told no one.

"Transport for NSW came out at the last moment and said, 'We're going to reduce the whole length of that road to 80km/h,' no consultation with the local community, no report back to Council, no nothing."

Cr Ingram told the people that phoned him to contact Transport for NSW prior to realising the matter had been in the Transport Committee minutes from March 2024, however, the minutes only showed a section would be reduced.

According to Cr Ingram he asked the General Manager to follow the matter up, which he did by sending the correspondence to all Councillors.

"For those people who live out in that area and are affected by this and were basically blindsided by it, to a point, so was Council," Cr Ingram said.

The residents have been in contact with Member for Cootamundra Steph Cooke in the hopes that she would be able to look at the matter, and have discussed the possibility of getting a petition going that can be presented in state parliament.

Ms Cooke has made representations on their behalf to the Minister for Regional Roads and Transport.

"I am also seeking further information about the evidence and findings that led Transport for NSW to lower the limit across a 40km stretch of roach, which I know is causing inconvenience for locals," Ms Cooke said.

"According to advice from Transport for NSW, the decision followed concerns raised by police and highway patrol, which were referred to the local traffic committee for review.

"Emergency services are the first to respond to crashed, and if they have raised safety concerns, their advice must be taken seriously."

Contrary to what local residents have said about not being notified by the change in speed limit, Transport for NSW have said they did advise them.

"Residents were advised of the changes by letterbox drop, media release and E-Blast," a Transport for NSW spokesperson said.

"There were also VMS (variable message sign) boards displayed for two weeks prior to the implementation of the speed zone change.

"Transport consults with local council and NSW Police as part of the review process but speed zone reviews are not subject to community consultation."

Transport for NSW confirmed that the matter was raised at the March 2024 Local Traffic Committee.

"It was agreed by the committee - which included Transport for NSW, Hilltops Council representatives, NSW Police and a representative for the local MP - that a speed zone review be carried out on Rugby Road from Little Plains Road to the Hilltops LGA border due to safety concerns with the road alignment and geometry," the spokesperson said.

"As Transport carries out speed zone reviews with a route-based assessment, this review covered a longer length than initially requested by Hilltops Council to align with the NSW Speed Zoning Standard.

"The road length between Boorowa and Little Plains Road has a noticeable difference in the road environment from Little Plains Road, however, the higher crash rate in section one (Boorowa to Little Plains Road) was one factor that supported a recommendation to reduce the whole length."

Transport NSW said a site inspection was carried out by Transport NSW representatives on three separate occasions to inform the speed zone review.

"During the review, Transport considered previous safety improvement work that had been carried out by Hilltops and Upper Lachlan Shire councils in the past five years," the spokesperson said.

"There were 13 reported crashes between 2019-2024 that were assessed as part of this speed zone review.

"There are many factors that can contribute to crashes, however, speed is directly related to the severity of injuries sustained in a crash.

"Speed was identified as a contributing factor in the crashes that occurred on Rugby Road."