Mayo let down by 'complete and utter intransigence' of national TDs

A MAYO councillor has accused Dáil representatives of letting the county down due to 'complete and utter intransigence' for failing to implement urban speed limits.

In October, the Minister for Transport directed local authorities to review existing speed limits on roads in built-up and urban areas with the objective of having the 30km per hour speed limits in built-up and urban areas operational by March 31, 2027.

The issue was raised at the December meeting of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District by Fine Gael councillor Peter Flynn who questioned when the speed limit review would be dealt with in the council. He complained that councillors had been stopped from reducing speed limits in towns and villages for a number of years because the Government was undergoing a national speed limit review and now responsibility has been placed back to councillors.

“I make no apologies for saying this but our national TDs have let us down on this. We have delayed this county wide speed review for the best part of five years on the basis that the Government was going to enact some form of traffic planning around urban areas. Now they are coming back and saying give it back to the local council to try to figure it out. It is unacceptable.

“We have lost five years because of complete and utter intransigence on behalf of our national TDs and it is not acceptable.

“It beggars belief that the Government has washed their hands and said to councillors to figure it out,” he said.

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The Westport-based councillor who is Cathaoirleach of the Westport/Belmullet Municipal District outlined that there were a number of places where the speed limit needs to be reduced to prevent death and serious injury.

“I tend to do a lot of walking and given the speed that trucks and buses pass you between the Quay and Westport town centre, it is only a matter before someone is hit with a mirror from a bus. The speed the buses go from the Quay is off the scale.

Cllr Peter Flynn

“We need to bring down our speed limits in our town centres and cannot have this situation where one in three people killed on our roads last year were cycling or walking so there is a major problem and a lot of it is to do with speed,” he said.

In response, Conrad Harley, Head of Roads with Mayo County Council said that he expects councillors to attend workshops next summer to discuss how the urban speed limit review will happen in their area.

He added that unlike the default speed limits for local roads introduced in February, local authorities will be asked to bring in bylaws for anywhere they want to bring down to 30km per hour.

Mr Harley also explained that the department will be looking to introduce engineering solutions to bring down speed before the speed limits are reduced.

“If a road has a lot of vehicles travelling at a much higher speed than the speed limit, the department wants to bring in safety measures to reduce the speed of the road first and then bring the speed limit down as a second measure.

“Things they want to do is pedestrian crossing with ramps, speed ramps on their own, narrowing the kerbs up and narrowing the junction up. Some of it might not be appetising for people living locally but it does have a big effect on people's speed,” he said.

Erris-based councillor Gerry Coyle who has been calling for speed ramps to be introduced welcomed these proposals saying that nothing stops drivers from slowing down than an exhaust getting 'clipped once or twice'.

Westport-based councillor Brendan Mulroy said the Government's speed limit review had been used as an excuse not to reduce the speed limit outside Glenhest National School. He asked that this location be an exception and be reduced immediately to 30km per hour.

He was supported by other councillors in the municipal district but was asked to hold off by Mr Harley who said that the location should go through the public consultation process like everywhere else.