THE straw that broke the camel’s back for Independent councillor Maria Donoghue when she decided to run for a Limerick Council seat in 2024 is finally seeing action.
Following a query from the City West representative at January’s Metropolitan District meeting, Cllr Donoghue welcomed what she deemed “positive news at last” about forthcoming plans to deal with Wolfe Tone Street and Lord Edward Street’s ongoing traffic problem.
Cllr Donoghue asked if traffic calming measures are planned for the two streets, adding that she wanted measures identified and associated timelines for implementation.
She described the issue to the Limerick Post as “the straw that broke the camel’s back” when she decided to run for local Council.
“The traffic congestion on Wolfe Tone Street in conjunction with the excessive speeding on both Wolfe Tone Street and Lord Edward Street is an issue that she has raised time and again with officials, “and finally we are getting somewhere,” Cllr Donoghue said.
According to the Council, road markings will be carried out along the two streets this January or February to help reduce the speeds. Following this, the Council will conduct a speed survey in April to assess the benefit of these measures. If speeds have not reduced, the Council will apply for a Section 38 Notice to implement further Traffic Calming measures.
Cllr Donoghue said she welcomes these proposals.
“The residents have suffered from excessive speeds along Wolfe Tone Street and Lord Edward Street for far too long. We have witnessed a number of serious car crashes on our streets over the last few years, not to mention the many near misses called in to me and evidenced by others on an ongoing basis. If anything, the speeding has got worse since I first raised this issue in 2020, and we are at tipping point,” she said.
“I hope that the Council will engage fully with the locals about the measures they plan to put in place, as we are fully invested in our community – we want our city centre residential streets to be safe, and we have had enough. We want to be heard, and at last we are being listened to.”
– Local Democracy Reporting Scheme