Criticism voiced over 50kph bypass limit during upgrade works

There has been criticism this week of a decision by Westmeath County Council to introduce a 50km per hour speed limit on the whole of the Athlone Relief Road while it is upgraded. The new limit was imposed recently and it means motorists are required to travel at a maximum of 50km/h on all seven kilometres of the dual carriageway - even though the vast majority of it is free of construction work. And it is feared the new speed limits will end up costing motorists, as the relief road is one of the locations earmarked for inspection by the new mobile speed cameras. A first phase of the upgrade project, which began on January 31, resulted in the closure of a two kilometre stretch of one west-bound lane between the Coosan and Roscommon Road exits. The project is expected to continue until August at the earliest. The new 50km/h limit means that, for example, drivers travelling on the motorway from Moate to Athlone are now expected to slow down dramatically - going from a 120km per hour zone to a 50km zone - when they join the relief road at Creggan. This is despite the fact that the road works are not near that location as yet. To date, virtually all traffic using the relief road appears to be ignoring the 50km limit in areas which are not in the immediate vicinity of the roadworks. Signs announcing the 50km/h limit were put in place at the interchanges where motorists join the relief road, but these signs are contradicted by at least one 100km/h speed limit sign which has remained in place by the eastbound carriageway at Lissywollen. A speed camera van was seen in the vicinity of the relief road several times over the last week, and one Athlone resident who contacted the Westmeath Independent said he was concerned that he and others would be penalised for not obeying the new limit. “The works are starting at Monksland, so there is no reason to have it restricted to 50 km/h at Garrycastle,†said the motorist. He felt it would be “very sneaky†if road users were penalised for not slowing down to 50km/h when they are not near roadworks, adding: “I've since been avoiding the bypass - I don't want to rack up 10 points in a week!†Westmeath County Council confirmed this week that the 50km/h speed limit now in place on the whole of the Athlone Relief Road, and this is expected to remain the case until the scheduled completion of the €7m revamp in late August. The council stated that the enforcement of the 50km/h limit was a matter for the Gardai. Conor Faughnan, Director of Policy with AA Ireland, said the council should take another look at its policy of implementing the 50km/h limit on all seven kilometres of the dual carriageway. “This is one of the things that frustrates motorists - the question of when do you believe road signs and when do you not? When do you need to follow the speed limit and when do you not? “If you teleport a motorist onto a road anywhere in the country they should be able to tell from the look and feel of the road what the speed limit is. That's not the case at the moment. You see signs for an 80km speed limit on country boreens, with grass in the middle, and these might as well be flashing neon signs saying ‘this speed limit is ridiculous.'†Mr Faughnan said it seemed “excessive†to implement a 50km/h speed limit for a seven-kilometre stretch of dual carriageway “unless roadworks are actually taking place all along" that seven kilometre stretch. “This is one more blow to the credibility of speed limits on our roads,†he said. The second of the project's eleven phases will begin tomorrow (Thursday) morning and will continue until February 22. The council said this will result in: “A road closure on the N6 Athlone Relief Road eastbound carriageway from Junctions 12, Tuam Road Interchange, to Junction 13, Roscommon Road, with a contra-flow system on the westbound carriageway adjacent to the works.†The eastbound on-ramp at Junction 13 will be closed during this time with a diversion along the old Galway Road, while the eastbound off-Ramp at Junction 12 will be closed during this period with a diversion via the Coosan interchange.