‘Illegal’ road ramps slow drivers

Motorists travelling along the Ennis to Kilmaley road by the Ennis Golf Club were driving in excess of 70km per hour in the 50km zone prior to the installation of ramps, it was revealed at the Ennis West Electoral area meeting this week.
The ramps were a cause of much disquiet locally following their installation last month and prompted Councillor Tom McNamara to table a motion to have them removed.
Councillor McNamara suggested that if left in their current form, the ramps would be “illegal” under the legislation dealing with speed ramps and called for the pedestrian crossing with traffic lights to be installed and for the ramps to be removed.
Councillor McNamara claimed the traffic ramps created on the R474 to provide a pedestrian crossing between both sides of Ennis golf course failed to live up to the spirit of the act governing the installation of speed ramps. He called for them to be removed with immediate effect and replaced with a compliant and more appropriate method.
Councillor Tony Mulqueen said, to his knowledge, members of Ennis Golf Club were “not happy with the ramps” and motorists are now using a narrower road by Drumbiggle to avoid the ramps.
Eamon O’Dea, senior executive engineer for the Ennis Electoral Area, stressed the importance of having ramps in place prior to the installation of a pedestrian crossing with traffic lights in order to slow traffic and warn them of the crossing.
He stated that motorists travelling on that road were known to drive “in excess of 70km per hour”, when the speed limit is 50km and for this reason, traffic-calming measures had to be put in place. “That’s why the ramps are there,” he said.
Councillor McNamara argued that if the speed limit is 50km “why can’t we implement it?”.
“Do we put ramps on the highways and byways? That is not a way to implement a speed limit,” he stressed.
Ennis town manager Ger Dollard said the ramps formed part of the overall scheme. “We can’t put in traffic lights without the ramps. It is an incomplete scheme at the moment, signage and traffic signals are yet to go in,” he said.
In a formal reply to the motion, Mr O’Dea said the council proposed to engage in a public consultation process under the Roads Act in respect of the continued provision of the traffic-calming measures. He said this would enable all parties to submit their views in relation to the measure and for the council to make a final determination on their continued provision.
Councillor Brian Meaney called for the costs involved in putting these ramps in place, the cost of their removal and the cost of proposed speed reducing measures. He said he too had received representations about these ramps but was aware that “speed reduction is necessary”.
“We are where we are. Substantial finance has been committed to this and in the interest of this I would ask that we allow the consultation process to take place,” Councillor Meaney said.
Mr Dollard outlined to the members that when completed, the scheme will meet with the requirements under legislation. He said it was currently at the stage, where it was going through the formal consultation process.
He did accept that “some adjustments need to be made to the ramps to give them a smoother finish and we will make those”.  
Mr O’Dea also echoed this sentiment in his response to the motion. “I would point out that the entry/exit slopes to the ramps need to be adjusted to provide for a smoother gradient and the contractors have been instructed to undertake this work to meet the specification of the council,” he stated.