Council insist national guidlines advise against ramps

Across the county border from Kerry, speed ramps are common, checking driver speeds on the regional roads that weave through the hinterland’s outposts.  

In rural villages like Athea and Askeaton, just over the Limerick border, roads boast the feature that is the envy of their Kerry counterparts.

In Cork too, speed ramps appear as soon as you cross the border.

In no more than 30 seconds after leaving Kerry, you’ll hit a bump in Ballydesmond on the R577, and then in another five minutes, as you arrive in Kiskeam.

The situation in the Kingdom appears markedly different.

Many settlements within Kerry have been highlighted by local councillors as ideal locations for a ‘vertical deflection measures’ but very few have such features.

Some local councillors believe it’s the only way to ensure traffic slows down on approach to the county’s villages and can’t help but feel the council doesn’t have the ‘appetite’ – in the words of Councillor Tommy Griffin.

A recent road upgrade near Scoil Bhreac Chluain in Annascaul did include the much sought after ramp and the effects were felt.

The works costed just over €200,000 and included additional road markings, signs and large pencil sticks to mark the site of the school to drivers.

James Tracey, a member of the school’s parents’ association, said the tabletop ramp made all the difference when speed limit signs were found to be ineffective.

“It’s a massive improvement, it’s really after helping the traffic going in and out of the village,” said James.

“Its really like chalk and cheese before and after, especially trucks that were just absolutely hammering down the village in the morning time.

“There was just basically signs that were out of there before which were ignored.”

Councillor Tommy Griffin, who strongly backed the project, admits that he has not heard KCC argue against the suitability of ramps but insists that there is a lack of appetite.

He claims KCC first promised to discuss ramps at a special policy meeting before telling him to contact council engineers.

When Cllr Griffin talked to councillor engineers, he claimed they “didn’t want to hear about it”.

Still, he firmly believes physical measures are the only way to stop speeding and that investing in digital signs is a ‘complete waste of time’.

“I can think of loads of places – Milltown, Castlemaine, Boolteens, Inch – there are so many places that it would benefit,” he said.

“Once they’re in, that’s it, your speeding problem is dealt with. You don’t have to say it’s a matter for the Gardaí or it’s a matter of putting up additional signage or more road markings. Nothing. It’s finished with that’s the end of it.”

“Other counties are doing it for a long time. There should be no reason why we aren’t doing it.”

Councillor Tom Barry also feels that Kerry County Council is ‘reluctant’ to install speed ramps, noting a change in attitude over the last 10 years.

One reason he had heard previously was because people were complaining about the noise caused by cars going over the ramps.

“From my experience, Kerry County Council are extremely slow and reluctant to install any ramps anywhere in the county,” said Cllr Barry.

“I spend an awful lot of time driving up and down the Cork…but there doesn’t seem to be any issues in towns and villages in Cork. I live in an estate where there is numerous, quite big ramps and they work brilliantly. And I’ve never heard anyone complain about them.”

“I actually feel that for any new estate, any new development whether to kind of build up residential area, that’s one of the where there is going to be a large value of traffic that there should be consideration given the speed ramps as part of the planning process. I honestly feel that way.”

Kerry County Council (KCC) said that while they are supportive of measures that improve road safety and promote safer travel, national guidance advises against the use of speed ramps on regional roads.

“Raised tables have proven effective in the county at reducing vehicle speeds and enhancing pedestrian safety, particularly in areas with high levels of footfall,” they said.

“The installation of such measures must also be considered having regard to factors such as road classification, traffic volumes, proximity to junctions and driveways, drainage considerations, emergency service access, and compliance with the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS), Traffic Management Guidelines and TII Guidelines.”

DMURS states that “Road authorities should use a range of appropriate measures on each scheme rather than rely solely on one feature such as ramps.”

KCC added that they had invested €3 million over five years in road safety, delivering over 50 safety schemes.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme