No new traffic calming measures for County Sligo village that sees 50,000 vehicles a week pass through it
Residents says speeding traffic is a daily occurrence despite the fact that Go Safe vans are regularly assigned to the village which is in a 50 kph zone
The issue was raised at a Municipal District meeting of Sligo County Council by Councillor Dara Mulvey who sought an update from the TII (Transport Infrastructure Ireland) on speed reductions needed at Ballinacarrow.
Cllr Mulvey said other towns along the N17 and N4 have more traffic calming measures in place yet Ballinacarrow was not getting adequate help.
'There are well over 50k vehicles on this road weekly . This village has a national school on the opposite side of the road to where three housing estates are located and parents and children are not happy to cross a national primary road due to speeding vehicles.
'A speed survey carried out by the pupils found that 98 out of 175 drivers were speeding. TII needs to put resources into Ballinacarrow before something catastrophic happens,' stated Cllr Mulvey.
Sligo County Council said that through the Sligo Regional Design Office it was currently advancing a number of Road Safety Improvement Schemes along the national roads in the county.
These Schemes are funded by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII). Locations of Road Safety Improvement Schemes are identified by analysing collision history (to identify high collision locations) and through road safety inspections (which highlight road safety issues) completed on behalf of Transport Infrastructure Ireland by road safety experts.
Prioritisation is given to high-collision locations when advancing Road Safety Improvement Schemes, while areas with identified safety issues are considered secondary.
The stretch of the N17 through Ballinacarrow village has not been identified as a high collision location in the two most recent analyses (2018-2020 and 2020-2022). Additionally, no issues related to traffic calming have been flagged at this location through TII road safety inspection process.
Sligo Regional Design Office currently has a full programme of Road Safety Improvement Schemes planned for 2025. It is important to note that a Road Safety Improvement Scheme was conducted in 2024 at the local road (L6108) / N17 junction in Ballinacarrow.
Following a 'Section 38 public consultation' for that scheme, Sligo Regional Design Office applied to TII for an Active Travel/Traffic Calming scheme for Ballinacarrow; however, that application was unsuccessful, and no funding was provided through TII's 2025 allocations.
"The location can be considered in the review of Road Safety Improvement Schemes for 2026, in discussions with the TII Regional Road Safety Inspection Engineer. However, there is no guarantee that a scheme at this location will be funded or prioritized, as high-collision locations and areas with identified issues from (TII led) road safety inspections to take precedence.'
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