There are renewed calls for a drop in the speed limit on Kilkenny’s Ring Road.
The county council meeting this week heard a plea from Cllr Joe Malone for it to be lowered by at least 20 kilometres per hour to 80kph.
The Fianna Fail representative feels that such a reduction should form part of the updated bye-laws governing Kilkenny’s urban speed limits and would also make it easier for pedestrians and cyclists to safely cross the Ring Road.
Many remember the death of a woman who was crossing a stretch of the route and was struck in November 2022 and while it’s not known what caused that incident there are fears others could fall victim as use of the road increases.
A drop in the speed limit has long been mooted – including in 2023 by Mayor David Fitzgerald and previously in 2017 by then Councillor Malcolm Noonan.
Cllr Malone told KCLR News he feels the measure is necessary because; “I’m on the Ring Road a lot walking and cycling; coming down from Springhill Roundabout, going down the Waterford Road and it’s going down to the Nuncio Road there’s a lot of improvements there at the moment with the footpaths, we’re putting in more cycle tracks and that”.
He adds; “We’ve too much speed, and look it’s so sad every weekend we’re hearing tragic deaths and I think speed could be the number one killer and a factor in it all”.
