Speed limit on the Strawberry beds...

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terrysgirl33

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I frequently drive through the strawberry beds, and recently noticed that the speed limits have changed. From the Anglers rest junction, to (I think) Rugged lane, the speed limit is now 50 kph (30mph), it goes up to 60 kph (40mph) between Rugged land and Tinkers hill (the hairpin bend junction that goes to Clonee), and back down to 50 kph into Lucan village.

While this isn't a road to speed on, 30 mph on a two lane country road seems a bit mad, how do you go about appealing a speed limit? Has anyone done it successfully/ unsuccessfully?
 
I'd say its to do with the houses along that stretch of road - it must be deadly trying to get out of one of those driveways on such an angle. And theres a lot of blind corners with hidden junctions/houses the whole way along.
 
Theres always been houses on that road why has the limits suddenly dropped. Has there been an increase in accidents on that road or something? Or is the usual be seen to be doing something syndrome?
 
There's a section of road outside Kilkenny towards Callan where traffic coming from Callan direction towards Kilkenny go from a wide road with hard shoulders to a narrow road without shoulders. People in the area have been campaigning for years to get the narrow secion improved. the Council's (or was it NRA) response was to reduce the speed limit to 50kmph, and this is on a national primary route!!
 
terrysgirl33 said:
I frequently drive through the strawberry beds, and recently noticed that the speed limits have changed. From the Anglers rest junction, to (I think) Rugged lane, the speed limit is now 50 kph (30mph), it goes up to 60 kph (40mph) between Rugged land and Tinkers hill (the hairpin bend junction that goes to Clonee), and back down to 50 kph into Lucan village.

While this isn't a road to speed on, 30 mph on a two lane country road seems a bit mad, how do you go about appealing a speed limit? Has anyone done it successfully/ unsuccessfully?
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It gets even worse. When you come over the bridge into Lucan and turn left to go up the hill, the speed limit drops to 30 kph (20mph) until you get past St Marys school on the LHS.

When you come round the roundabout, and start to drive up the hill, you are more concerned at looking for children, cars pulling out etc. than you are looking for an inappropriate speed limit sign. I don't have a problem with that speed limit, when the school is opening or closing, but that absurd speed limit is going to be in place 24/7. In addition there is a lolly-pop woman on duty there when the school is opening and closing and for most of the time the traffic is so heavy that nobody is going anywhere fast.

When the speed cameras are privatised and the new rules implemented, and the privatised companies are allowed to hide the speed cameras to catch unwary motorists, where do you think they are going to place them? On a stretch of road where deaths and serious injury are really likely to occur or in some place where they are shooting fish in a barrell and can miximise revenue.

(I know that some poor bloke was killed on that hill by an off duty guard recently but that incident occurred in the middle of the night/early morning and his death is still being investigated. I don't think imposing such a ludicrous speed limit there is going to solve anything)

What really annoys me is that the powers that be can impose any speed limit they like, anywhere they want. There should also be an onus on them to put in measures to slow the traffic down to a reasonable speed for the road concerned i.e. put in bollards in the middle of the road etc

My own personal favourite speed trap location is coming down the hill on the Ballymun Road Dual Carriageway towards Town. The carriageway is two lanes wide and there is also a hard shoulder/bus lane. There is a 30 mph speed limit in place and at the end of the hill is where you usually find our dilligent Boys in Blue. On a fine sunny day (never there when it's raining), when they have nothing more important to do, they try and catch the ordinary citizen, whose car has slightly speeded up coming down the hill, for exceeding the speed limit.

Well done lads. We're proud of you. Your doing a great job.


Murt
 
Gotta say that I live in Lucan village and do occasionally use the Strawberry beds.

I've been here two years now and the traffic coming down the hill into the village and continuing on to use the Beds or travel on towards Leixlip/Clonee has been increasing month on month to the point that it is currently at - hugh lines of traffic from all directions at several times during the day.

I'm all for the speed limitations in both of these areas as I frequently see people coming up and down the hill into Lucan at very high speeds. (They are entering a village and passing a school and should drive accordingly) There are also ever increasing amounts of 12 wheel trucks using the bridge now so it's more important than ever to keep the speed under control. Unfortunately, given the amount of fields currently in various stages of housing development outside this side of Lucan the situation is only going to get worse when they come on stream.

I travel many of the local roads around here - i.e. between Lucan and Clonee, and have seen several accidents over the last two years.

Finally, the road through the Beds are very narrow in places, and like many areas of Dublin, are experiencing volumes of traffic that they were never designed for. For years the local residents in the Strawberry Beds have been putting up signs appealing to motorists to drive at a sensible speed - maybe they have finally got their wish.

Houses in the Strawberry beds are frequently for sale and I can only imagine it is at least partly due to the volume and speed of the traffic passing through...I know I'd not feel safe having my kids near that road.

Murt, I agree with you about how some speed limits are very badly set and it drives my bananas to see the Gardai camped in areas where the speed limit seems too low, but in this case I think that the limits in place are suitable.
 
I've been living in the area for many years and theres always been a problem with people speeding on Strawberry Beds. At much higher speeds than they do now. There was always accidents on it. Used to be more bikers on it than there is now. The roads the same width it always was. However like you say the volumes have increased massively with all the developments on both sides of the liffey.
I would be interested to see any stats that prove it has more accidents than any other road with the same volume, or that it has increased in recent years significantly.
 
The signs that the residents put up were asking motorists to adhere to the speed limit of 40mph, which is a reasonable speed limit given the road conditions. 30mph seems a bit ott...
 
"The signs that the residents put up were asking motorists to adhere to the speed limit of 40mph, which is a reasonable speed limit given the road conditions. 30mph seems a bit ott..."

Fair enough, though I drove along the beds today and the speed limit is along a residential stretch of the road and only lasts for about a mile so while 40mph might be more reasonable the bulk of the road is at the higher limit of 60kph.
 
You have just inspired me to spend 5 minutes with a piece of string calculating the length of the road and the different zones...

5 kilometers are at 30mph, just over 2 kilometers are at 40mph. The total length of the road (from Knockmaroon gate to the bridge over the Liffey in Lucan) is 7 km. The 50kph (30mph) zone reaches from the anglers rest (Knockmaroon gate) to Rugged lane, which is the last lane before Tinkers hill, and the only 40mph (60 kph) zone is between Rugged lane and Tinkers hill.
 
terrysgirl33 said:
You have just inspired me to spend 5 minutes with a piece of string calculating the length of the road and the different zones...

5 kilometers are at 30mph, just over 2 kilometers are at 40mph. The total length of the road (from Knockmaroon gate to the bridge over the Liffey in Lucan) is 7 km. The 50kph (30mph) zone reaches from the anglers rest (Knockmaroon gate) to Rugged lane, which is the last lane before Tinkers hill, and the only 40mph (60 kph) zone is between Rugged lane and Tinkers hill.
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I drove down Rugged Lane earlier today. The speed limit on it is an unbelieveable 60kph (40mph). The road is so narrow that two cars cannot pass without one pulling into a gateway or going up onto a ditch.

To drive at 40mph down this hill with its blind bends, steep gradient, loose gravel and the narrowness of the road would only be attempted by either a very brave or very stupid person. (Had one or two near misses myself on that road and now treat it with respect)

The 30kph traffic lights I mentioned earlier outside the school were not working or were turned off. Maybe they only work when the school is in business (hopefully)


Murt
 
I agree with you 100% about rugged lane. 30mph is pushing it there! But at the point that you join the Strawberry beds, it's still at 30mph??? (mind you, that's no harm as it's a bad junction).

I'm, afraid I haven't noticed the school lights at all. Any time I pass at school time, the traffic is crawling anyway, so 30mph isn't reachable!
 
I love the new speed limits at the school and i imagine the Gardai will be very vigilant enforcing it. What we wont see is enforcement of the parking regulations outside the school. Every morning its is an education to see what the idiot has blocked the road this time, done a three point turn in the middle of the road- the rounabout miust be all of 50 yards away, blocked the entrance to the apartments by dumping their cars across the gates etc. From a few years of watchin this dangerous behaviour the bigger the offender, the more likely they are to be sporting a "child on board" sticker! The school area is dangerous but the parents seem to be the biggest offenders.
 
aircobra19 said:
Where is this roundabout on strawberry beds?
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Aircobra, the roundabout in question is just over the bridge in Lucan village.
At busy times it often has eager motorists parked on it trying to get onto the bridge, blocking the path for everyone else.

And Glan03, I agree about the school parking, the enterance to the apartments there are often blocked and no-one respects the double yellow lines nearby, having said that I'd say this problem occurs outside every school in this fair land.
 
Hi,
I am a resident on the lower Strawberry Beds road and therefore can hopefully shed some light on the matter. Residents on this road have been campaigning for a long time to try and sort out safety issues on this road. While I agree the speed limit is now very low, this is entirely due to the fact that some people use this road as a race track and it has become increasingly dangerous over the years. The residents have become fed up with this, aswell as the fact that this road is used as a rat run into town in the mornings, and only for the fact that there are now traffic lights are Laraghcon, would have no possibility to get out onto the road. There are a lot of children living on this road and their safety has to be a priority. There are speed ramps going in on this road in the coming months and this will hopefully reduce traffic volumes and speeds going forward. Safety and reduced volumes is something the residents feel that they have a right to have, and have campaigned tirelessly for
 
Am I missing something but has the roundabout and a school in Lucan got to do with Strawberry Beds road? Which I've just noticed is actually "Lower Rd" on the map.

In 20+ yrs I've been living in the area that road has always been dangerous, and a rat run, and in all that time, I'd never use it at peak as its always been backed up at either end of it. Certainly the volumes are heavier, but if anything thats slowed it down. Has there been a valid independent survey of speeds, and accidents over time on that road?

People like to think of it as a little country road. Which its is in many respects. But it has always been a significant route for traffic. It doesn't need yet more speed ramps to wear out your wishbones and your back. But the cops to actually enforce the speed limits. In 20yrs I don't think I've ever seen a speed check on it.
 
Just an update (well, bit of a rant really!). I've tried driving at about 35 mph on the Strawberry beds, but there is always someone stuck up behind me trying to overtake and my nerves can't take it, so I've gone back to about 40 mph. I still had someone in a bmw stuck up behind me for most of the way this morning :(.

FWIW, I have seen a speedcheck on that road! It was a few years ago, but it was there! (near the wrens nest I think)
 
I agree with Jane18’s assertion that the Strawberry Beds are used as a race track. I have driven through at a reasonable speed over the years – say 45 mph on the straights and I have never failed to have someone tailgating and pushing to overtake. The speed of some is unbelievable.
 
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