Category Archives: Road Safety

Road Safety

Park & Stride – Notice of Motion

7 Notice of Motion

7.1 Submitted by Councillor Trevor Golden

We call on the Trim Municipal District of Meath County Council to carry out a Park &
Stride trial in Trim and bring findings to Municipal District members for consideration.

Response:
The Parking section will carry out a trial “park and stride” promotion in Trim. This trial will be run for a 3-month period in which the section will promote Park & Stride / Walk the last K. 2 carparks will be utilized for this promotion where drivers can park at Tower View all day parking for €2.00 or free parking in The Council Offices on the Summerhill Road. The parking section will report to the members on this trial its outcomes and recommendations.

Parking on Footpaths – Notice of Question

6 Notice of Question
6.1 Submitted by Councillor Trevor Golden

For years 2022, 2023 and 2024 to date, how many tickets were issued for vehicles parked on footpaths?

RESPONSE:
Navan, Trim and Kells
2022 – Number of Fines: 422
2023 – Number of Fines: 423
2024 – January Number of Fines: 25


Trim Town
2022 – Number of Fines: 101
2023 – Number of Fines: 74
2024 – January Number of fines: 2

Traffic Management M1, M2/N2, M3 & M4. – Notice of Motion

10 General Interest Motions
10.5 Submitted by Councillor Trevor Golden

“That Meath County Council calls on Transport Infrastructure Ireland to implement traffic management on motorways and arterial routes (M1, M2, N2, M3 and M4), in particular at points of congestion, as these areas pose a higher risk for road users.”

Shared Space Zones – Notice of Question

8.3 Submitted by Councillor Trevor Golden

“By Municipal District, how many designated Shared Spaces Zones are in County Meath?”

Response
Meath County Council currently do not have shared zones. We have approximately 109 slow zones which are used in housing estates that have a 30kph speed limit, the numbers per MD are as follows;

Ashbourne – 22
Kells – 22
Laytown – 10
Navan – 23
Ratoath – 22
Trim – 10
Slow zones utilise a similar sign to F404 in the Traffic Signs Manual.

Shared space zones are however being considered where appropriate on schemes in Ratoath, Navan and Dunboyne.

Funding Secured for R154 (Dublin Road) Pedestrian Crossing

Funding has been secured for one pedestrian crossing in the vicinity of St John’s estate towards the Knightsbrook Roundabout on the Dublin Road, Trim. There is no funding for a second crossing at this location therefore the exact location of the crossing being installed will be carefully considered following an engineering evaluation. The money will be coming from sustainable transport funding in 2021 therefore works will not commence until at least the second quarter of 2021.

This follows on from a 2019 Notice of Motion and subsequent Report on Pedestrian Safety Newtown Bridge & R154 Pedestrian Crossing.

NTA – Allocation Approval Trim MD – Meath County Council

Meath County Council made a submission to the NTA for funding of various schemes under the Stimulus Plan announced by Government last month.

The NTA have now confirmed the projects to be funded and the related allocation amounts and below is a list of the schemes relevant to the Trim Municipal District.

Road Number (or Street Name in Urban Areas)Location of Proposed SchemeProject Type and Brief Description

R-159-89EnfieldProvide new footpath to creche
Lackanash RoadTrimSignalised pedestrian crossing
R-158-0Summerhill Road, TrimReconstruction / renewal of defective footpaths or cycle tracks.
R-161-0Navan Gate Street, Trim,Reconstruction / renewal of defective footpaths or cycle tracks.
Enfield VillageVarious locations in the villageRecent walkability studies identified several footpaths, cycleways/lanes that need upgrading in order to become more user friendly to users, wheelchair users, buggy users, older people etc. 
Summerhill VillageVarious locations in the villageRecent walkability studies identified several footpaths, cycleways/lanes that need upgrading in order to become more user friendly to users, wheelchair users, buggy users, older people etc. 
R156Summerhill VillageReconstruction/Renewal of defective footpaths or cycle tracks
Ribbontail LaneLongwoodSurfacing new link to Royal Canal

Report on Pedestrian Safety Newtown Bridge & R154 Pedestrian Crossing

Trim Municipal District – 2:00 p.m., 15th November, 2019, Trim Civic Offices

Report for Trim MD Councillors St Peter’s Bridge (at Marcie’s) Pedestrian Options

Background:

A Notice of Motion was submitted by Cllr Trevor Golden at the Trim MD Ordinary Meeting on 12th July 2019 as follows:

‘That Meath County Council will assess and prepare a report for the Members’ consideration on improving pedestrian access from the R154 to Lackanash Road. This report should include, but not limited to:

•Measures on the bridge
•Pedestrian Crossing on the R154’

Measures on the bridge
Several Options were reviewed and here follows a report of each option considered.

Road Marking: The length of this bridge is 38m and the width of the road (L-8016-2) on the bridge is 4m. The minimum acceptable width for a footway is 1.2m which only then allows only an unacceptably narrow 2.8m for vehicles – this creates a conflict between pedestrian and vehicle road markings.

Phasing of Traffic Lights: The traffic lights at this bridge currently only allow for vehicular traffic. The combined amber/green phase is 1.5 minutes. If an additional pedestrian phase were to be included in the cycle then a further minimum of 1.5 minutes would need to be allowed. This additional wait time would cause driver frustration probably leading to poor driver behaviour. In addition the space available for queued vehicles on the Navan side of the bridge will not allow for the extra cars that would need to queue while waiting for the green light thus causing conflicts/back ups on the through road from Lackanash to Navan. It is also questionable whether a pedestrian would wait for the pedestrian phase of the traffic light cycle before crossing thus making it ineffectual.

Cantilever Bridge: A cantilever bridge structure (similar to that in Navan) would cost approximately €0.8 million (based on pro-rate costs from the Navan bridge) which is prohibitively expensive considering the low pedestrian count at this location.

Separate Pedestrian Bridge: A pedestrian only bridge could possibly be constructed parallel to the existing vehicular bridge however this would cost in the region of €0.5 million – based on an approximately 50m long bridge. In addition the bridge wing walls would need to be broken through which is unacceptable in a protected structure.

Close Bridge to Vehicular Traffic: There is an option of closing this bridge to vehicular traffic and leaving it as pedestrian only. However the vehicles currently using this bridge would then be diverted towards the ring road. It is unknown whether the other junctions along the ring road can absorb this additional load. It also would create a 3km detour for vehicles as opposed to the current distance of 850m. However if the members wish to do this on a trial basis please advise and this office can arrange same.

Conclusion: The existing bridge has immense historical significance dating from 1330 and is a protected structure. It is in an Architectural Conservation Area and it is also located in the Boyne and Blackwater Special Area of Conservation and Special Protection Area. This means that any options involving civil works would need extensive permissions from various government bodies which may not be forthcoming.

There is no easy solution for giving more priority to pedestrians at this location and the pedestrian traffic counts do not justify extraordinary measures. Those pedestrians that use the bridge do so with due care and attention. No incidents are accidents have been reported to date nor were any issues identified during the pedestrian traffic counts undertaken (see below for pedestrian traffic count data).

It should be noted that there are many schemes that already form part of the County Development Plan which must be considered from limited funding. None of the options detailed above form part of the development plan and there is considerable expense involved in most of them. At this time the pedestrian count does not justify such expense.

The County Development Plan does include for a new bridge to be built across the Boyne which may reduce vehicular traffic at St Peter’s Bridge by approximately 50%. This may make it even easier for pedestrians to navigate the bridge.

Pedestrian Crossing on the R154

Meath County Council regularly receives proposals for new works but the volume of works unfortunately far exceeds the funding and resources available. Meath County Council therefore must prioritise works – pedestrian crossing locations are thus typically placed closer to urban centres where there is a higher pedestrian volume that there is at the proposed location above (i.e. on the R154 at the turn for the bridge).

Rather, it is the preference of this office to channel available funds towards a controlled crossing on the Lackanash Road at the pedestrian entrance to the Porchfields (approximately opposite the entrance to Steeple Manor Estate). It is hoped that this may be installed in 2020 if funds become available.

The report can be found in the agenda for the Trim MD Meeting on Meath.ie:
Agenda – Trim Municipal District Meeting November 2019

Pedestrian Safety Newtown Bridge & R154 Pedestrian Crossing

Trim Municipal District – 2:00 p.m., 20th September, 2019, Trim Civic Offices

7 Notice of Motion

7.1 Submitted by Councillor Trevor Golden
That Meath County Council will assess and prepare a report for the Members’
consideration on improving pedestrian access from the R154 to Lackanash Road. This

report should include, but not be limited to:
• Measures on the bridge
• Pedestrian Crossing on the R154.”

Supporting information subject to the motion being proposed, seconded and
considered:


Following a meeting with the Senior Engineer, Transportation, it has been agreed that a
report will be prepared and circulated to councillors, when complete.
The motion was proposed by Councillor Trevor Golden and seconded by Councillor
Aisling Dempsey.


It was suggested that the assessment include the possible installation of lights that
would give preference to pedestrians and cyclists or a design such as the cantilever
bridge in Navan.


The motion was adopted.

Link to Minutes on Meath.ie Minutes – Trim Municipal District Meeting July 2019