Galway City Council to replace incorrect speed limit signage

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – The City Council has committed to changing incorrect speed limit signage on a number of roads by the end of the year.

Following a year-long campaign by cycling advocates in the city, the Council carried out an audit which identified ‘a number of anomalies’ in signage at various locations.

These anomalies related to speed limits higher than 50km/h in the city’s administrative region where the default is set at that speed – a requirement under national legislation.

However, on roads including the Oranmore Coast Road, Dublin Road (from Galway Clinic to Merlin Park Hospital), Rosshill Road, Letteragh Road, Rahoon Road, Upper Ballymoneen Road and Upper Cappagh Road, signage indicated that drivers could travel at up to 80km/h.

The issue came to light last year when councillors voted down a proposal to alter the speed bylaws in the city – blocking the reduction of the default limit to 30km/h at the same time as ruling out the Executive’s attempt to increase limits in some areas including those where anomalies existed, and on Bóthar na dTreabh.

At a meeting of the local authority this week, Acting Director of Services for Transportation, Uinsinn Finn, said the roads affected were largely ‘on the edge of the city’ in what were essentially rural roads.

“Irrespective of the nature of the road not changing, the speed limit will change at the city boundary,” said Mr Finn, giving the example of the Oranmore Coast Road where motorists will now have to travel at 50km/h from just after Oranmore Train Station when driving towards town.”

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