‘Accident waiting to happen’ on busy Limerick road amid ‘frightening’ speeds
Cllr Jerome Scanlan brought forward a motion on the issue at the May meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District
THERE is an “accident waiting to happen” on two busy roads in County Limerick, a council meeting has heard.
Independent councillor Jerome Scanlan brought forward a motion on the issue at the May meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District.
The motion called for average speed cameras to be trialled along the R520 and R522 and for the findings to be brought before the councillors.
Cllr Scanlan told the meeting that speeding was a “major issue” on both roads, particularly for local residents trying to get out onto the road.
He said that on the R520, there is a “dead straight stretch of road” where people pick up speed.
Cllr Scanlan added that residents trying to get out onto the road in that particular area are “taking their life in their hands”.
The motion was supported by Fine Gael councillor John Sheehan who said that the council “do need to do something” about speeding on the two roads.
In response to the motion, Director of Transportation Patricia Liddy said that average speed cameras are particularly effective on high speed, low conflict roads such as motorways.
She said that so far, they have been confined to the Dublin Port Tunnell, the M7 between Nenagh and Birdhill and three other national roads.
Ms Liddy continued: “The reason for the deployment to those locations were that they were located along long high speed link roads with a notable collision history.
“The use of average speed cameras is less effective where there are frequent junctions or accesses and therefore is not suitable for much of our regional road network.
“Furthermore, the upfront costs for this form of speed reduction mechanism is significant, at €150,000 to €200,000.
“Therefore, future deployment onto our regional road network will be based on measured collision history, speed data and road geometry.”
Cllr Scanlan said he was not happy with the response given. He cited the effectiveness of the cameras on the M7 and didn’t see why that couldn’t be replicated elsewhere.
He said that there was “an accident waiting to happen” on the roads amid people driving at “frightening” speeds.
Cllr Scanlan went on to say that they have average speed cameras all over the UK and they are very effective.
He concluded by saying that authorities were “at nothing” when it comes to policing road safety if such cameras are not installed.
Subsequently, Fine Gael councillor Liam Galvin suggested that councillors could draw up a list of “blackspots” for speeding as a starting point.
The Cathaoirleach, Cllr Michael Collins, then proposed that the issue be put on the agenda for the councillors’ next meeting with the Garda Superintendent.
Cllr Collins concluded by saying that councillors need to get An Garda Síochána on board with regards the issue.