Ballymore seeks long-term answer to problem of fast through-traffic

Ballymore residents have been calling for something to be done to combat frequent speeding through their area.

As a village on the route between Mullingar and Athlone, a lot of traffic passes through daily, and residents, supported by Cllr Vinny McCormack, have been expressing concern about the speed at which many drivers pass through.

On approach to the village, the speed limit drops from 80km to 50km, but not all drivers stay below the limit.

Locals have been fearing an accident and have been asking for various measures to address the problem, such as more signage and speed ramps.

However, speed ramps are not permitted on regional roads and Cllr McCormack has been working on other ways to tackle the issue.

“You really don’t want cars coming through the village at the sort of speed I’ve seen myself recently,” he said. “We definitely need to tackle it in some way.

“We are restricted with what we can do on a regional road, but I’ve spoken to the [council] area engineer and he is going to look at some other options, for example, narrowing the driving lanes – which encourages a speed reduction.”

The Fianna Fáil councillor has also been engaging with gardaí in relation to speed checks.

“We’ll have to look at enforcement as well, so speaking with the gardaí and getting regular speed checks done in the village is going to be something that will have to be done, with the current speed levels out there.”

Cllr McCormack said that there is particular concern with cars travelling from the Mullingar side and in relation to amenities such as the community centre and the playground.

“It’s worrying with the playground there, where kids might be crossing the road; some might be crossing on their own,” he said.

While more pedestrian crossings could help the situation, Cllr McCormack has said that in some areas, visibility is an issue.

While some people have suggested adding more flashing signs, he believes a more long-term solution is needed.

“What’s being found recently is that signs would have a good effect for a couple of months, and then people just get used to seeing them there and go back to their normal speed anyway.

“You don’t want to spend that kind of money on something that will only have an effect for a couple of months and then you have the same problem again – you want to tackle it long term,” he said.