Design the key to reducing speed in new housing estates, Cllrs told

All new housing estates built in Meath will be designed to slow traffic without the need for traffic calming measures.

At a meeting of Navan Municipal Council last week, Cllr Emer Tóibín called on Meath Co Council to make the inclusion of traffic calming measures on estate entrance roads mandatory, in all future planning applications for new estates in the municipal district.

She was told that new residential estates are required to comply with DMURS (Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets) standards. This is the principal national design standard for urban roads and streets in Ireland and it is mandatory for all road authorities to comply with this design.

DMURS aims to create attractive places for people to live and travel and provides a safe and comfortable street environment for pedestrians and cyclists of all ages.

This is achieved by creating a self-regulating street environment in which the road geometry, road widths and active road frontages are designed to reduce vehicle speeds. In such

circumstances, the mandatory inclusion of traffic calming measures for new residential estate entrance roads is not required.

Meanwhile, Cllr Francis Deane called on the council to carry out a survey on speeding in Athlumney Village estate with a view to installing cushion ramps.

"Residents have concerns about speeding in the estate and for the safety of people living in this area,” he said.

Cllr Deane was told Athlumney Village was included in Meath County Council’s 30 km/h Housing Estate Special Speed Limit Bye-Law in 2017.

Speed surveys carried out at that time indicated that vehicles were travelling at an average speed of 28 km/h.

The Council's Transport Section will repeat speed surveys within Athlumney Village to gauge the level of compliance with the 30 km/h speed limit.

The meeting heard that the provision of traffic calming to 30 km/h housing areas is assessed / prioritised based on a number of factors including the recorded speed of vehicles within the estate and proposed traffic calming will have regard to the Dept of Transport Traffic Management Guidelines, which currently note that ramps should only be chosen if no other suitable measures can be used.