Government accused of making a U-turn on plans to reduce urban speed limits 

The department of transport has confirmed the onus will be on local councils to cut speed limits, rather than changes coming directly from Government. Picture: Denis Minihane

The Government has been accused of a U-turn on plans to introduce across-the-board 30km/hr speed limits in urban areas.

The department of transport has confirmed the onus will be on local councils to cut speed limits, rather than changes coming directly from Government.

Legislation passed last year contained provisions for sweeping changes to urban speed limits, but the Department has since confirmed these will not be enacted “at this time”.

It would have seen any 50km/hr speed limit reduced to 30km/hr, but instead will be left to the discretion of individual local authorities through a mechanism known as special speed limit bye-laws.

Green Party city councillor in Cork, Oliver Moran, accused the Government of caving on a commitment set out by the previous coalition.

“The legislated approach was that the default urban speed limit was to be 30km/h. Local authorities could then look at individual roads in an area and make special speed limits for roads they wanted to remain 50km/h. That’s been flipped on its head,” Mr Moran said.

Mr Moran said there is effectively no change, as local authorities have always had powers available to it to reduce speeds on roads through bye-laws.

“The trouble is that using special speed limits is painfully slow,” Mr Moran said. 

It means we’ve only been able to roll out 30km/h zones on a handful of streets per year, when the demand for 30km/h zones from residents is huge.

He cited arduous guidelines which slow down the process, but revised guidelines are expected to be introduced next year.

Roads minister Sean Canney has defended the change, rejecting assertions that the Government has u-turned on the plan.

“There’s been no rollback and I will be making sure that we are doing everything in our power to reduce the speed limits. I think people understand it as well,” Mr Canney said.

Mr Canney said the Government changed tack and opted for councils to reduce speeds, saying it was important there was “flexibility”.

“Every urban area changes and the dynamics change,” Mr Canney added.

I think it’s important that the local people and the people living in the areas also have a role to play in this.

Cork city Labour councillor Peter Horgan highlighted concerns about driver behaviour in recent years, while calling for speed limits to be lowered.

“Driver behaviour has grown angrier and erratic since the pandemic, and we must utilise all available tools to mitigate dangerous speeds of cars in our urban communities with a pedestrian safety-first approach,” Mr Horgan said.

Mr Moran highlighted campaigns underway by residents on the Ballyhooly Road and Summerhill on Cork's northside to reduce the speed limits to 30km/h.

“Streets like Summer Hill and Ballyhooly Road welcomed the 30km/h zone legislation last year. Now, they fear they are going to be sold out and continue to be treated like main roads, with the default speed limit remaining at 50km/h,” Mr Moran said.