Roscommon councillors call for two speed limit zones to be extended
by David Flynn
Proposals by councillors in the Athlone area of Roscommon to have a 60km per hour speed limit extended in two areas of the county will be considered in the first six months of this year.
Speaking at last week's meeting of the Athlone Municipal District of Roscommon County Council, Cathaoirleach Cllr John Keogh said that members agreed to put a formal proposal to the Chief Executive Shane Tiernan to introduce speed limit by-laws in order to extend the 60km/hr speed limit zone in Bealnamulla to include the soccer pitch and also at Brideswell village to include the Community Centre Cam.
The council, in a written response, said that speed limit changes were underway, with all local roads changing to a default speed limit of 60 km/h (currently 80 km/h) and all national secondary roads defaulting to 80 km/h (currently 100 km/h).
The local road network change has come into effect, while the changes to the National Secondary Roads will involve a full revision of the current special speed limit bye-laws, which the council said was due to take place in the first half of 2025. It said the two areas outlined by Cllr. Keogh will be included in this review.
“Hopefully when the review does take place it will address the two areas,” said Cllr. Keogh.
Cllr Tony Ward also supported and said it would be important to reduce the speed limit in that area.
“Footpath safety is the No. 1 issue there, for the sake of 200 metres,” he said, in relation to the Bealnamulla proposal and in relation to Brideswell, he said it has an active community centre there.
“Yet it’s not safe for kids out playing because of the speed going on there, and people are taking their lives in danger,” said Cllr Ward (Ind).
Cllr Emer Kelly had tabled a question on the meeting’s agenda asking also if there had been any progress on investigating the possibility of a by-law to extend the 50km speed limit from Brideswell village to Cam Community Centre, which got the same reply as had been given to Cllr. Keogh.
“It makes sense to extend the speed limit zones,” said the Independent councillor.
Cllr Laurence Fallon (Ind) said that in supporting the Bealnamulla and Brideswell issues, he also found that the speed limit changes are causing confusion and anxiety among people.
“Hopefully the review when it takes place will progress quickly,” said Cllr Keogh.