County Council survey reveals most drivers are speeding through Belgooly

A SPEEDING survey carried out by Cork County Council in Belgooly has revealed that nearly 64% of motorists driving through the village broke the speed limit of 50 km/h. 

At a meeting of Bandon Kinsale Municipal District in Bandon last Friday, Council engineer Brendan Fehily outlined to councillors the results of the speeding survey which was carried out between December 16 2016 and January 3 2017. 

The survey tracked a total of 97,753 vehicles going through the village through two speeding monitors that were installed on both sides of the village.

Cllr Gillian Coughlan (FF) said that the figure of 64%  was very high and that now the evidence is there that speeding is a problem and that the Council needs to act on it. Cllr Alan Coleman (Ind) said he wasn’t surprised at the results and pointed out that there are two types of drivers: those who just drive fast and those that may not take notice of speed limits.

‘Improving the road markings approaching the village from the Kinsale side would be of help and maybe changing the colour of the road surface to a different colour would alert motorists to a change in the speed limits,’ said Cllr Coleman.

Cllr Aidan Lombard (FG) said that it’s the guy in the middle who may not be aware of the reduced speed limit in the village that needs to be targeted.

Cllr Rachel McCarthy (SF) said that residents have  spoken of their concerns about speeding motorists.

‘They felt the idea for us to put it back to the gardaí wasn’t acceptable and they want a visible pedestrian crossing,’ said Cllr McCarthy. Brendan Fehily said the speeding problem has to do with the gardaí and that all the signs in the world won’t stop a speeding driver.

‘It’s important to put islands in there and I will send the results of the speed survey to the gardaí,’ said Mr Fehily.

Senior executive engineer Charlie McCarthy ruled out the use of ramps to stop speeding motorists and said the gardaí were out there last week operating speed checks. 

‘We will look at possible solutions for this now that we’ve identified the issue we can work on it,’ said Mr McCarthy.

A local student, Charlie O’Callaghan (13), even undertook a project to examine the speeding problem and he presented his findings at this year’s BT Young Scientist & Technology Exhibition.