THE cathaoirleach of the Killaloe Municipal District has described himself as “baffled” as to the raft of regulations on the installation of traffic calming ramps.
Councillor Alan O’Callaghan made his remarks as he called for ramps to be put in place as a safety measure for those using the school and playground in Kilkishen. In response to his motion, he was told that the installation of ramps at the location would have to meet the requirements of the Road Traffic Act (1994) and involve a public consultation process.
The Fianna Fáil member thanked Senior Executive Engineer (SEE) Derek Troy the “huge work” already done at school in Kilkishen. “Speeding is still cropping up all the time,” Councillor O’Callaghan insisted. “I’m only here since 2014, but I feel that since then, only one speed ramp has been put in. I think there’s a feeling that we’re going to try everything bar a ramp. There are ramps in Newmarket, Sixmilebridge, Shannon, and even on the Limerick to Cork road at Buttevant, and there are thousands of vehicles passing through. I really feel that there seems to be a step back whenever we suggest putting in a speed ramp.”
Councillor O’Callaghan said existing measures appeared to be “just a temporary fix”. “The Gardaí are there and they regularly fill up their book at the speed signs,” he added. “I feel I need to ask about this, because there always seems to be an excuse as to why we can’t put a ramp in.”
The motion was seconded by Councillor Joe Cooney. “Great work has been done, speeding is still a big concern, though, and there’s no point saying it’s not,” he said. “We keep meeting the same stumbling block and we’re told that ramps don’t meet the criteria. We have had meetings in Kilkishing and the feeling is that ramps are needed on both sides of the village.”
Councillor Pat Burke cited the example of Caherconlish in Limerick. “That is on a regional road, but there are ramps there before you go up main street,” he said. “They are severe ramps and by God, they will slow you down.”
Responding to the debate, Mr Troy said that the Road Design Office had been advised on the issue by the National Transport Authority (NTA). “There was a bit of a push back against ramps in last five to 10 years, but they are starting to be considered again,” he said. “Right at school may not be a suitable location. The intention is to advise drivers at speed limit and then have ramps in built up areas. Physical measures are probably best way to slow people down. The intention is to have a gateway to encourage people to slow down first. We will go back to Road Design on this.”
Councillor O’Callaghan thanked Mr Troy for his advice. “All of the signage is not working,” he added. “It’s just not working. It’s something we need to address asap.”
Councillor Pat Hayes said that the markings at the ramp in Tuamgraney need to be refreshed. “You don’t know you’ve hit it until you’ve hit it,” he said.
Senior Executive Officer (SEO) Morgan Lahiffe told the meeting there are “a whole load of regulations” in relation to traffic calming.
Concluding, Councillor O’Callaghan said: “This issue always seems to baffle me somehow”.
In his written response to the motion, Mr Troy outlined that, “Kilkishen National School and Kilkishen Playground are located within the existing 50km/h speed limit on the L7088. A speed survey was carried out in 2020 and this did not reveal significant speeding issues at that time. Pedestrian safety improvements have been undertaken in recent years in terms of controlled pedestrian crossings and footpath provision.
The response also noted the construction of ramps and associated signage would have to comply with Section 38 of the Road Traffic Act, 1994, which includes a public consultation process.