Castle Street like a ‘runway’ for speeding traffic
Castle Street in Roscommon Town where traffic calming measure are needed according to councillors.
Roscommon County Council has been called on to provide traffic calming measures on Castle Street in Roscommon Town.
At a meeting of the Roscommon Municipal District Cllr Orla Leyden proposed the motion, saying that local residents reported that speed had increased since the area was enhanced.
In response the council said that the department of transport carried out a safety analysis of this section of the R366 from the N60 roundabout to the N63 roundabout encompassing Castle Street in 2023.
“Excessive speed was not identified as an issue. The only recommendation from the report was to give consideration to a buff coloured surface at the courtesy crossing points to highlight them to drivers,” the council said. It added it would monitor the traffic speed on Castle Street to determine if any traffic calming measures were required.
Cllr Leyden said residents in the area were “quite clear” that there had been a notable increase in traffic, “some travelling at high speeds” since the enhancement works.
“They welcomed the enhancements,” she said. “But it has created something of a runway for cars motoring up the town at high speed.” She welcomed that the council would monitor the traffic, but asked that this be carried out during school times.
“It’s literally terrifying for residents as they try to come out of their drive. They are afraid they will get clipped.” She said that while Gardaí monitored the road, speeding had continued to occur.
Municipal District Co-ordinator, Tom McDermott said that he would contact the council’s roads section to get the monitoring set up.
Cllr Kathleen Shanagher said that it was impossible to cross the road on Castle Street, particularly at the carpark. She asked whether a pedestrian crossing could be considered for the street.
“I have noticed the speed van has been there but it is still not having an impact,” Cllr Shanagher said.
Cllr Nigel Dineen supported the motion, noting the traffic on the road was very bad.
“I see cars going way too fast,” he said. “If we are enhancing our town to make it safer for everyone, you can’t just do the centre, you have to do the other parts too.” Cllr Marty McDermott said it was an issue that needed to be addressed, describing the street as a “runway”. He said that monitoring was an important step in getting it resolved.
Cllr Paschal Fitzmaurice supported the motion but expressed disappointment that Castle Street had been redesigned less than 10 years ago.
“I thought the whole idea of the design, to narrow in the carriage way and to put in some crossing points, was to slow down traffic. Clearly from what Cllr Leyden is saying that hasn’t worked,” he said.
He suggested that the “urban design” being used needed to be re-examined to “see why isn’t it working”.
“Because it cost a considerable amount of money to put in that design in Castle Street.” He said that a number of crossing points existed on the road and a review should examine them and perhaps raise them.
Cathaoirleach of the MD Cllr Anthony Waldron said that soft cushion ramps were working well in the town.
