Updated 11.00am
DUBLIN CITY COUNCIL has extended the 30km/hr speed limit in the city to residential areas and in the vicinity of schools.
Councillors voted on the matter in December, with 37 voting in favour, eight against and two abstentions.
The speed limit will apply to residential areas between the Royal and Grand Canals. In May, a number of other residential areas will also switch to a 30km/hr speed limit, including Glasnevin and Crumlin.
Speaking after the vote was passed, Green Party councillor Ciaran Cuffe said all the evidence pointed to the measure making the streets of the capital safer.
He told RTÉ’s Morning Ireland: “The reason for it is that it’ll save lives. There is a lot of strong academic evidence saying that if people are driving slower, fewer people will be killed or injured.”
The councillor also said the change will ease parents’ worries about their children walking in these areas. Road signs will now be changed to reflect the new, lower speed limit and “where budgets allow”, the council will make changes to the roads.
“Simply changing the road signs does work – you get a significant change,” he said.
Andy Walsh, senior engineer at Dublin City Council, told Morning Ireland today that the limits would apply to areas “bounded by the Canal to the north and south, the south circular road and Ringsend”.
Walsh said the council was working closely with the Road Safety Authority, local residents and other parties in terms of education and enforcement of the new laws.
Everything is done on an “evidence-basis”, Walsh said.
We are confident that this will save lives. This is purely about road safety. This will help us to create calmer, safer communities.
Speaking at the announcement of today’s expanded 30km zone was Roseann Brennan whose son Jake died in a road traffic accident at their estate in 2014.
She said: “To all road users I want people to be aware that no one wants to live with regret in their lives due to a small mistake that could easily have been avoided. The 30km/hr speed limit expansion makes so much sense.
Just stop and think before you get into your car and drive, especially in residential areas.
A public consultation on the issue of speed limits was launched by Dublin City Council last July.
The council received 550 submissions. Of these, 100 supported the expansion of 30km/hr speed limits.
The same number said reducing speed limits on its own is not sufficient, while 83 expressed concern that current city speed limits are largely ignored and enforcement needs to be improved.
The AA, however, had proposed increases to the speed limit in the city centre and the quays, and in locations such as Fairview Strand and Cork Street.
Their rationale for increasing the speed limit on the north and south quays from 30km/hr to 60km/hr was that the current limit was “ridiculous for a city centre commuter route” and that it added to traffic congestion.
Dublin City Council engineers recommended that the current speed limits be retained and that the “introduction of a 60km/hr speed limit in the city centre should not be considered further at this time.”
To embed this post, copy the code below on your site
have your say