New limits raise questions over respect for the law in south Dublin. Tim O'Brienreports
DÚN LAOGHAIRE Rathdown County Council is planning to adopt a new speed limit regime that would see a maximum limit of 60km/h on much of the N11, a 100km/h limit on an upgraded, three-lane section of the M50, and a 30km/h in many neighbourhood, or town centre areas.
The council also plans to have special designations on some stretches of road which would confer a lower speed limit on bus lanes, than neighbouring lanes on the same stretch of road.
The council, which has posted details of the changes on its website, said yesterday that it intended to adopt the new regime in the interests of road safety.
It said it had reduced road fatalities by half over the past decade, and added "one pillar of this is speed reduction, and following initial meetings with the gardaí and NRA, we are confident they, and the public, will look favourably on this proposal".
Included in the new regime is a pilot 30km/h scheme, which would "protect vulnerable road users". In other cases, the council said the "changes have been made in an effort to better match the maximum speed allowed to local road conditions".
Among the most significant provisions of the new regime is the extension of what was known as the "Belfield 60km/h speed limit". In future, the 60km/h limit is to apply from the council's boundary with the city area at Belfield, as far as Foxrock church at the junction of Kill Avenue. The 60km/h limit will apply on both sides of the dual carriageway, outbound as well as inbound.
The limit will also apply to stretches of roads forming a junction with this section of the N11. It will be imposed on these adjoining roads for varying distances - mainly between 23 and 57 metres, from their junctions with the N11.
The 60km/h limit will also apply to some approaches to the M50 as well as parts of the Leopardstown Road dual-carriageway.
The limit for the remaining section of the N11 National Road, from 20 metres south of Foxrock church to 100 metres north of the Loughlinstown Roundabout is to be 80km/h. But buses and all other mechanically propelled vehicles - including taxis in the bus lane - will be restricted to a special limit of 60km/h.
On the M50, the council's scheme provides for a 100km/h on the newly upgraded, three-lane section of the motorway, from the council's boundary with south Dublin, to a point 250 metres east of its junction with the M50 off-ramp to the Sandyford Rotary, which is named Junction 14.
But the council scheme under a heading "Seventh Schedule - Special Speed Limit 120 km/h" designates the next section of the, now two-lane motorway, at the higher speed limit. The relevant section under the 120km/h speed heading reads "the M50 Motorway (Southbound) within the Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown County Council administrative area from a point 250 metres east of its junction with the M50 off-ramp to the Sandyford Rotary (Junction 14) to a point 100 metres west of the Stonebridge Road overbridge". A similar designation is proposed for the northbound section.
However, the plan then seeks to alter a following section of motorway, the M11 outside Shankill from the current level of 120km/h to 100km/h.AA spokesman Conor Faughnan said there was a danger that speed limits which were too low would lose respect. He said that in rush hour traffic the N11 speed limit was somewhat academic.
But the prospect of having an almost empty three-lane carriageway at 2am and telling people they can drive only at 60km/h was, he said, undermining speed limits generally and unlikely to be obeyed.
See dlrcoco.ie for full details of the council's changes.