Plans by Galway City Council to introduce a 19mph speed limit ‘slow zone’ in Galway City could frustrate motorists and make a mockery of traffic laws, according to one of Ireland’s leading traffic expert.

Galway City Council is planning to follow Dublin’s lead and introduce a 30km/h speed limit in the city in order, it says, to encourage more cycling and to protect cyclists’ from collisions with vehicles.

The proposed zone boundary would stretch from Bodkin roundabout (Menlo Park Hotel), to D’Arcy Roundabout in Salthill (Seapoint), along Lough Atalia Road to Moneenageisha Cross, Cemetery Cross and back to Bodkin Roundabout. It will encompass areas such as Bohermore, Salthill, the Claddagh, Newcastle, Woodquay and the city centre.

AA Roadwatch, who opposed the introduction of the capital’s zone this week, says there is no reason to believe that the reduced limits will improve road safety here.

AA’s Conor Faughnan told the Galway City Tribune that parts of Galway City would be suitable for a 30km/h speed limit, but warned the Council not to introduce a blanket ban because it may actually cause more accidents.

“There are roads in Dublin that were changed to 30km/h but just last week if you drove at that speed along them you would fail your driving test because driving at that speed on these roads wasn’t safe. 90% of the affected areas in Dublin are fine but in 10% of the area it doesn’t make sense to have this limit,” he said.

“Introducing speed limits like this may work well in Galway, and could enhance the city, but in certain roads it is likely to completely conflict with the engineering of the road.
“If speed limits are too high or too low it

makes a mockery of speed limits and is very frustrating for drivers. You cannot just change the speed limit and stick up signs; you actually have to change the engineering of the road to suit the speed limit by using lane narrowing, chicanes and traffic calming.

“That is fine for certain roads but there are certain areas where you just have to keep 50km/h to keep the flow of traffic moving and for fuel efficiency and so on. There’s no reason to believe that a blanket imposition of this limit, and no reason to believe that without changing the engineering of the road, will save lives,” added Mr Faughnan.

For more, read page 2 of this week's City Tribune.