There has been a lot of talk over the proposed speed reduction in urban areas from 50km/hr down to 30km/hr.
What was originally going to be a directive from the Government implemented nationwide, now looks to be left to each county and city council to decide upon.
Fine Gael Councillor for Galway City Shane Forde said that voters expect that their local representatives to be making decisions for the local community.
“That’s how the cities are best placed to make decisions for the constituents in this city and not by representatives up in Dáil Éireann,” he told The Hard Shoulder.
“City councillors are best placed to know the roads around the cities where we live and work.
“In Galway, there’s a road locally known as the Dirty Turkey, that road is about 1.8 kilometres, it stretches from roughly the Meno Park Hotel up as far as the Flemings Garage in Galway city.
“It’s been one of the highest intakes for fines in 2022, they took in something I think close to €300,000 of fines for that road alone.”
Speeding car, south Downs, East sussex, England, UK. Image: Tony Eveling / Alamy. 2013Cllr Forde said for officials to in Dublin to tell people in Galway City that the road should only be 30km is “madness.
“The decision to increase the speed limit on that road was taken and it’s a better decision,” he said.
“But the reality is, in a medieval city like Galway, any time after one o’clock during the day, Monday to Friday, you’re going nowhere in traffic anyway.
“You’ll be lucky to get outside 20 miles per hour most days because of the traffic, which in Galway roughly is around 95% capacity at most days.”
Pedestrian safety
However, Labour Councillor for Cork City Council, Peter Horgan, said “there’s a bit of a bait and switch happening here”.
“I do believe that councils and councillors should decide what’s happening,” he said.
“But this wasn’t a diktat from Dublin to say, ‘reduce everything to 30 kilometres’, and we have to be fair and honest about this, in that there was a public consultation done in 2024 to reduce from 80 to 60.
“Then it came down that after that public consultation, certain roads were brought in, certain roads were excluded.”
Cllr Horgan said that he makes “no apology for seeking to slow down motorists in an attempt to highlight pedestrian safety”.
Main image: Speeding car. Image: Jeanette Teare / Alamy Stock Photo
