{"id":569042,"date":"2026-07-26T14:27:09","date_gmt":"2026-07-26T14:27:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/569042\/"},"modified":"2026-07-26T14:27:09","modified_gmt":"2026-07-26T14:27:09","slug":"its-just-too-much-councillors-blast-e20k-cost-of-traffic-ramps","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/569042\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018It\u2019s just too much’ – Councillors blast \u20ac20K cost of traffic ramps"},"content":{"rendered":"

Donegal councillors have questioned why a single traffic-calming ramp can cost up to \u20ac20,000.<\/p>\n

Sinn F\u00e9in’s Brian Carr and Noel Jordan have warned that soaring costs are leaving communities waiting longer for vital road safety measures.<\/p>\n

Glenties councillor Brian Carr said too many projects are stalling because of the price tag attached to traffic-calming works.<\/p>\n

He wants roads engineers to examine alternative designs, materials and methods, while keeping all required safety standards in place.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve all seen the consequences and too many accidents, including fatal collisions,” Cllr Carr told Monday’s plenary council meeting.<\/p>\n

\u201cI know we can\u2019t prevent every accident, but we have a responsibility to put practical measures in place and to make our roads safer.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Carr said speeding complaints were being raised in communities across Donegal, including Fintown, Leitir Mhic an Bhaird and at the entrance to Glenties.<\/p>\n

\u201cOne of the quickest and most effective ways of slowing traffic is ramps, traffic-calming ramps in towns and villages. They work,” he said.<\/p>\n

Cllr Carr recalled speaking to the operator of a GoSafe speed detection van in Glenties.<\/p>\n

\u201cI asked him, since the new raised table was installed at the Comprehensive at the lower end of the town, how many people does he catch for speeding downtown?<\/p>\n

\u201cHe said he\u2019d been there for three days in a month and he caught one person. Before that raised table was put in, he was catching dozens every day.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo they do work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Councillors had previously been told that a traffic-calming ramp could cost as much as \u20ac20,000.<\/p>\n

“Everyone in the chamber was kind of shocked. That is far too expensive,\u201d Cllr Carr said.<\/p>\n

He proposed creating a simpler system with a range of standard ramp designs which could be selected by an engineer depending on the location.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat I\u2019m asking is for a quicker, effective way. I\u2019m not asking to lower any safety standards.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s just a simpler system, maybe, for example, different types of ramps: Ramp A, a single-carriageway ramp, Ramp B, a raised table, or C.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe engineer would inspect the site, choose the correct standard design and approve it, and the contractor would be told to install it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019d make the process quicker, more consistent and reduce all the delays.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we can reduce the cost of installing ramps, we can deliver more of them, and that means communities are getting safer in areas that need road-safety measures across County Donegal.\u201d<\/p>\n

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He added: \u201cRamps do save lives. It\u2019s a practical, common-sense approach that keeps the same engineering and safety standards while getting value for money.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Noel Jordan seconded the motion and said the time taken to deliver projects was also a major concern.<\/p>\n

He spoke of proposed safety works at Dunkineely National School<\/a>, where funding was allocated around a year ago.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut we\u2019re 18 months later from that last incident, and it\u2019s a year since the actual funding has been allocated to that, and we\u2019re still not at public consultation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Cllr Jordan said parents and school staff were repeatedly asking when the project would move forward.<\/p>\n

\u201cNow it has to go to public consultation, possibly in September.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ll be nearly into the third year before the works start.<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s not acceptable.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has to be a quicker way of doing this.\u201d<\/p>\n

Cllr Carr’s motion, calling for a report within six months on possible savings and quicker delivery, was agreed.<\/p>\n

Director of Roads and Transportation Bryan Cannon said the council recognised the concerns raised.<\/p>\n

He said there was no single design for traffic-calming measures and that costs depended on the location and the work required.<\/p>\n

Mr Cannon said projects often involved much more than simply installing a ramp, with drainage, lighting, footpaths and other alterations sometimes needed to meet safety standards.<\/p>\n

He told councillors the issue had already been discussed at the Roads Strategic Policy Committee and it was suggested that ring-fenced funding should be identified to help deliver projects more efficiently.<\/p>\n

“I also wish to highlight at this time the responsibility we all have as drivers when we get behind the wheel of a car,” Mr Cannon said.<\/p>\n

“There is also an onus on us as all as parents, partners, siblings, friends, etc to call out poor driver behaviour because as a society we will all benefit.”<\/p>\n

Cllr Carr said speed limits alone were not enough to stop drivers speeding.<\/p>\n

“There are speed limits up everywhere and they still speed,” he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need the ramps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Donegal councillors have questioned why a single traffic-calming ramp can cost up to \u20ac20,000. Sinn F\u00e9in’s Brian Carr…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":569043,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[72,61,60],"class_list":["post-569042","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-business","tag-business","tag-ie","tag-ireland"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569042","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=569042"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/569042\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/569043"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=569042"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=569042"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=569042"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}