Part of village's two-week-old speed ramp was ‘mysteriously' removed

A SECTION of a temporary speed ramp that was installed in a village recently was mysteriously removed and dumped in a ditch.

Having only been installed by Cork County Council two weeks ago, the speed bumps are located in Shannonvale village. 

Speaking to The Southern Star, David Edwards, chairperson of Shannonvale Community Association, said that the residents were saddened and angry that someone decided to remove part of one of the new speed ramps, which are bolted down.

‘There had been so many positive comments from residents at how much safer they felt, either walking or even just pulling out of their driveways, since they were installed,’ he said. ‘But the most positive feedback came from parents who said they had previously felt unsafe taking their youngsters to catch the school bus in the mornings and were amazed at the difference the speed bumps had made.’

Cork County Council installed the three temporary ramps to combat the growing problem of speeding motorists diverting through the village to avoid the road works on the N71 just outside Clonakilty.

‘We are really grateful to the gardaí from Clonakilty and Cork County Council for acting so quickly to recover and re-install the vandalised bump, and hopefully the response from the community will cause the culprit to reflect on their actions.’

David also wanted to thank Cllrs Paul Hayes and Christopher O’Sullivan, and the Council engineer, for listening and acting on their initial concerns about the problem of speeding motorists through the village.

‘There has been a huge drop in speed overall and the only complaints seem to be from those who drove into them very hard or saying that there are no signs up, which in fact there actually are.’

While acknowledging the speed bumps won’t be popular with everyone, David said these temporary measures will make their village just a little safer for both pedestrians and children while the delayed N71 roadworks continue.

‘These three speed bumps will stay for the duration of the roadworks but we would be pushing for permanent ones after, as the data collected from speed signs will show how big an effect they have on speeding motorists,’ added David.

Last November locals in the village carried out a speed monitoring exercise in the village which showed that vehicles were travelling at up to 118km/h past the 50km/h sign.

‘Drivers coming through our village also need to be aware that these temporary speed bumps are much harsher than the permanent types so they really need to slow down!’

Supt Ger O’Mahony told The Southern Star that they are aware of the incident and investigating it.