New speed limit of 60km for all rural local roads in Offaly

Council crews in Offaly have been working to install new speed signs in recent days, with the speed limit on rural roads decreasing from 80 kilometres per hour to 60 kilometres per hour from today, Friday, February 7.

Offaly County Council confirmed that the new 60km per hour limit was being introduced across all rural local roads in the county.

"All the rural local roads in Offaly will have the new default speed limit of 60km/h from Friday," stated the local authority's Roads Department.

The council said on Tuesday that its crews had been "working to have all speed limit signs in place by February 7 to allow for the implementation of the new default speed limits".

The Government said the lower speed limits were being implemented as part of its effort to reduce the number of serious injuries and fatalities on our roads.

However, the change has been criticised by some, with Independent Offaly TD Carol Nolan this week calling for it to be deferred.

"The clear sense emerging from the conversations I have had with commercial drivers, farmers, businesses and constituents is that, while the intention may be well-meaning, the practical outcomes arising from the new limits are going to create a host of new problems," said Deputy Nolan.

She predicted there would be challenges in securing public ‘buy-in’, particularly in relation to rural roads that could cater for higher speeds.

“We know from the Government's own Speed Limit Review and its Modelling Assessment Report that the evidence is, at best, mixed when it comes to the net positive impact of such changes, particularly in rural areas.”

"Indeed, the report specifically acknowledges the expert judgement of road safety and enforcement authorities who have concluded that compliance with speed limits, in particular on engineered roads which are designed for higher speeds, will be challenging in terms of public perception and buy-in," she said.

"In terms of safety, several of the greatest threats to motorists and pedestrians are actually from drink or drug driving, the use of phones, or the failure to wear a seat belt.

"I am also concerned about the economic cost as the longer drivers have to spend on the road the less likely they are to travel to and spend time in regions like the Midlands and Offaly.

"There is in fact a definite sense that the new limits are simply detached from the kind of reality of rural Ireland at least in terms of the distances that many people have to travel on a daily basis."

"It is not at all clear to me that Government has engaged properly or has conducted a full impact assessment of the social and economic consequences that will flow from these new limits," stated Deputy Nolan.

Last April, the Road Traffic Act 2024 was signed into law and included provisions to amend the default speed limits on rural, local roads, urban roads and national secondary routes.

In addition to the lowering of default speed limits on rural local roads, changes are due to be implemented in future in built-up urban areas, where default speed limits are expected to be reduced to 30 km/h.

The Department of Transport said last week that local authorities had received grants to change speed limit signs from '80' to '60'.