SOCIAL Democrats councillor Elisa O’Donovan wants Limerick Council to complete a review of the 30 kilometre per hour speed limit in the city centre, including effectiveness, public awareness, and enforcement.
Speaking at the Metropolitan District meeting for the month of May, Cllr O’Donovan said that from what she sees every day in the city, bylaws in place for the past two years do not appear to be effectively enforced.
“I think if we’re going to be rolling this out as part of national policy in areas in towns, besides schools, we really need to know how they are working in the city centre,” she told the Council executive.
“I went down Parnell Street yesterday and I drove at 30 kilometres an hour. It’s very slow, and I know no one else was doing 30 kilometres an hour. I’m wondering how many people are actually doing it?” the City West representative inquired.
Seconding his party colleague’s motion, Cllr Shane Hickey-O’Mara took the view that motorists aren’t even aware the 30km/h speed limit is in place in the city centre.
“I had the exact same thing where I’m driving at 30km/h and people are tailing me and I have been beeped at. We know people don’t go 30km/h but I always do because I’m like ‘you can’t get caught because you’re a councillor’,” Cllr Hickey-O’Mara admits.
In response, the Council’s Director of Transportation, Mobility, and Public Realm, Patricia Liddy, explained that the local authority has not, to date, undertaken a post-installation review of the 30 km/h speed limit within the city centre.
“The Roads Central Services Team will now progress traffic speed surveys at appropriate locations within the 30km/h zone. These surveys will assess compliance by road users, thereby informing an evaluation of the operational effectiveness of the reduced speed limit and the level of public awareness associated with it,” she said.
“Enforcement of the 30km/h speed limit is a matter for An Garda SÃochána. In this regard, once the traffic speed survey data has been collated and analysed, it will be shared with the relevant Garda Division to support enforcement considerations.”