Councillors in south Mayo are looking for enhanced traffic calming measures to be put in place in the village of Kilmaine, due to the large increased volume of traffic going through the village since the opening of the M18 motorway from Tuam to Dublin.
Councillor Damien Ryan placed a notice of motion on the September agenda of the Claremorris-Swinford Municipal District calling for immediate action on the issue. Speaking at the meeting he said that the volume of traffic passing through the village had increased dramatically in recent times since the opening of the M18 and now there was traffic passing through the village on two fronts, one accessing the motorway and the other going on to Galway city.
He said there is now "unprecedented need for new measures", adding: "I would ask that the council expedite whatever reports they need to Transport Infastructure Ireland (TII ) with a proposal to look for funding for proper traffic calming in Kilmaine, to be on the agenda for the delegation that will go to meet TII soon from the council. There is no point in this being on the agenda next January when the national roads announcements are made, we need to have it on the agenda now.
"I have raised the issue of the speeds in this village on many occasions of the past few months - we did put in mobile speedometers, they did have an effect but we need to put in permanent measures and we need to have the paperwork and reports sent in to TII to have the funding. I would not be putting this on the agenda but for the pleading of the people of the village, it will be too late when something happens. I don't want to be hearing this is under consideration, I want it to be on the agenda when funding is being done for 2020."
Cllr Patsy O'Brien added: "I would be singing off the same hymn sheet as Cllr Ryan, we have been raising this consistently since the new motorway in Tuam has come into play. I have made representations through Minister Ring's office for funding to be given for this road - I do think we need to have it on the agenda for the council's delegation when they go to TII, but we should also write to the Minister from this Municipal District too.
"In relation to the speed there has been numerous calls in relation to speed issues in the village over the last few months. I have written to Mayo County Council in relation to speed calming measures, it is something that I wouldn't promote everywhere, but there is a need for them in Kilmaine.
"It is something we have to work on, the day of not having speed ramps on national roads is over because it is too dangerous. People are not adhering to the speed and I think we need to use traffic calming but the biggest deterrent I can see is speed ramps, it is not the way I would want to go. I don't want excuses because in Headford they are on the N84 and they have speed ramps. I don't see why a town six or eight miles away can be different just because it is in Galway. I think we need to have a serious look at this."
