The speed limit sets more than how fast you drive. For a roadworks site it decides the sign spacing, the taper lengths, how far back the warning signs go and whether a reduced speed zone is needed. On site the answer is on the signs, but when you're planning from the office, or checking a stretch you haven't driven, you need another way. This guide explains the rules for where a speed limit applies in Queensland and where to look one up.
Where a speed limit starts and ends
Queensland's road rules (the Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Road Rules) Regulation 2009, which follows the Australian Road Rules) set out when a speed limit sign applies. In short:
- A speed limit sign applies from the sign to the next speed limit sign showing a different limit, an end speed limit sign, or the end of the road. Repeater signs along the way don't start a new zone; they remind you of the one you're in.
- A limit applies to traffic travelling past the sign, in the direction it faces. Signs for the other direction are on the other side of the road, and at a zone change they're often not side by side.
- Where no speed limit sign applies, the default limit is 50 km/h in a built-up area and 100 km/h elsewhere. A built-up area is one with buildings, or street lights, no more than 100 m apart beside the road for at least 500 m.
- Turning onto another road, you take that road's limit: its own signs, or the default if it has none.
Special zones sit on top of this: school zones at set times, speed-limited areas shown by area signs, variable speed limits on electronic signs on motorways, and temporary limits at roadworks.
Why the limit can differ by direction
Picture a highway entering a town. Northbound traffic passes an 80 sign at the edge of town; southbound traffic leaving town passes a 100 sign. Those two signs may be metres apart or a few hundred metres apart. Between them, the northbound limit is already 80 while southbound traffic is still in its 80 zone until it reaches its 100 sign. Everywhere else, both directions have the same limit.
So when you check a limit near a zone change, check it for the direction your traffic is travelling, and look at where each direction's sign actually is. On a divided road, each carriageway has its own signs.
Where to check a road's speed limit
| Source | Good for | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| The signs on the road | The legal limit, always | You have to be there (or use street-level imagery, which may be out of date) |
| TMR's speed sign survey | Every surveyed speed sign on Queensland roads, with the street and direction of traffic it faces | A point-in-time survey from 2019–20; limits may have changed since |
| OpenStreetMap | Crowd-sourced limits on most major roads, often recently updated | Coverage and accuracy vary; not an official record |
| Navigation apps | A quick check while driving | Not designed for planning; may lag behind changes |
| The road manager | Planned and recent changes, and roadworks limits | TMR for state-controlled roads, the council for local roads |
Street-level imagery is handy for spotting the actual signs, but check the date it was captured. For roadworks, any temporary speed limit is set in the traffic guidance scheme and applies while it's signed.
Using TMR's speed sign survey properly
TMR's open dataset "Speed limits for state and local roads" records around 200,000 speed signs across Queensland, collected in 2019 and 2020. Each record has the sign's position, the limit, the street it's on, the direction of traffic it faces, and the sign type, including records marked UNSIGNED where a default limit applies with no sign.
Used naively, by taking the nearest sign to a point, it gives wrong answers in exactly the places that matter: at an intersection the nearest sign may belong to the side street, and at a zone change it may be the sign for the other direction. Used properly, a sign only counts for the road and direction it faces, and the limit at a point is the last sign that direction's traffic passed.
Checking it in Chainage
Chainage applies those rules to TMR's survey for every point on a Queensland state-controlled road:
- Look up the point by tapping the map, using GPS or searching.
- The speed box shows the limit and how far back its sign is. Where the two directions differ, it shows both, named by where each is heading.
- Tap the sign to see it on the map, with the stretch its limit covers drawn along the road, from where that limit began to where it changes or the road section ends.
- Tap More information to compare the live OpenStreetMap limit, and open Street View to see the signs.
It's a planning check: the signs on the road are the law, and a survey from 2019–20 can be out of date. See also the Queensland road lookup guide for the other road data on the same card.
Frequently asked questions
What is the default speed limit in Queensland?
50 km/h in a built-up area (buildings or street lights no more than 100 m apart beside the road for at least 500 m) and 100 km/h outside built-up areas, wherever no speed limit sign applies.
Does a speed limit end at an intersection?
No. A speed limit continues past intersections until a sign with a different limit, an end speed limit sign or the end of the road. If you turn onto another road, that road's limit applies.
How do I find out when a speed limit changed?
Ask the road manager: TMR for state-controlled roads, or the local council for local roads. Open datasets and maps are snapshots and may not show recent changes.
Who sets speed limits in Queensland?
TMR sets limits on state-controlled roads, and councils on local roads, following the speed zoning guidance in the Queensland Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices (MUTCD) Part 4.
What speed limit applies at roadworks?
The temporary limit shown on the roadworks speed signs, set by the traffic guidance scheme for the site. It applies while the signs are displayed, even when no workers are visible.
Sources
- Queensland Government, Transport Operations (Road Use Management—Road Rules) Regulation 2009, Part 3 (speed limits).
- Queensland Government Open Data Portal, Speed limits for state and local roads (2019–20 survey).
- Queensland Government, About speeding (default speed limits).
- Queensland Department of Transport and Main Roads, QRSTUV: Guide to Speed Management, and the Queensland Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices Part 4: Speed Controls.