71, Wilton Road,

Cork
30 th March 2015
Re: Superintendent Barry and Traffic related problems on Wilton Road.
Dear Ms Doherty,
Following receipt of the results of the speed survey carried out by Cork City
Council, we referred the results to Superintendent Charlie Barry of An Garda
Siochna at Togher Garda Station for his information and comments. His
response is outlined in the enclosed letter dated 11 th March 2015 and his
conclusions are referred to as follows.
1. Speed survey:
Superintendent Barry states I fully understand that speed was an issue at off
peak times and this has been monitored by Garda patrols and the GATSO van.
He agrees with Chief Superintendent Finn who stated in his enclosed letter of 13 th
January 2013 The lack of compliance with the speed limit is of serious concern.
It also agrees with the recent statement of the CEO of the RSA, Ms Moyadh
Murdock that nationally over 80% of drivers break the 50kph speed limit where
free speed opportunity arises in urban areas. This statement coincides with our
own constant monitoring during free speed periods, which occur mainly at night
and early mornings but also throughout the day outside of rush hours.
Coincidently An Garda Siochna are so concerned with excessive speeding that
they recently organised a Slow Down Day. The coordinator Chief
Superintendent Curran stated: We also know that approximately 80% of our

speeding detections are between 10-29km/h over the posted limit, with
nearly half occurring in 50km/h zones. Excessive or inappropriate speed
causes death and injury on our roads, and remains the primary
contributory cause of road traffic collisions. Excessive or inappropriate
speed causes death and injury on our roads, and remains the primary
contributory cause of road traffic collisions.
Even a cursory examination of the understated results of the CCC survey shows,
that of the 8,000,000 drivers that traverse Wilton Road annually, 1,872,000
break the 50km/h speed limit and a staggering 312,000 break the 60km/h speed
limit, equivalent to 855 per day or 36 per hour!

It is therefore a dangerous misrepresentation for the Council to ignore the

clear advice of the most senior Garda, to continue the policy of denial and
to insist that the 8,000,000 drivers traversing Wilton Road buck the
national trend and are fully compliant with the 50km/h speed limit. We call
on you therefore to immediately implement appropriate off-road and onroad signage. The level of delinquency of 312,000 in excess of 60kph is

extremely serious and warrants the installation of permanent cameras

and/or electronic speed indicators.
We have sought a copy of the recent Speed Survey under the Freedom of
Information Act.
Bus Lane/Wilton Gardens:
As part of his review, Superintendent Barry, whose serious reservations
concerning safety issues relating to the imposition of the bus lane and associated
road markings have long been ignored by Cork City Council, investigated the
number of Garda attended traffic accidents in recent years on Wilton Road and
found that on average, 16 accidents occur annually. This can reasonably be
equated to an average of 160 accidents in the last decade or in excess of 250 in
the last 20 years, coinciding with the period we have been fruitlessly highlighting
the obvious dangers to officials of CCC. He further looked at the number of
accidents directly associated with the bus lane and the junction at Wilton
Gardens and found that again on average 10 accidents occur here annually,
equivalent to around 130 accidents since the imposition of the bus lane and
associated road markings. He refers again to the ill-conceived and dangerous
yellow box road markings at Dennehy's Cross which are a constant cause of
confusion and accidents. These statistics do not of course include the many less
serious accidents and near misses which we encounter on a regular basis and
which are not attended to by the Garda.
Clearly, if Council officials had heeded the clear evidence provided by the Wilton
community and by senior officers of An Garda Siochna over the last twenty
years or so, many of these accidents could have been avoided. It is
inconceivable that responsible Council officials would fail to react to Chief
Superintendent Finns advice in his enclosed letter of 9 th August 2013, that the
road layout at Wilton Gardens junction was clearly unsafe.
As a result we believe that the Council has been grossly negligent in failing to
carry out their duties throughout the period, resulting in the unnecessary
endangerment to all road users including drivers, cyclists, pedestrians and
residents. Before any further damage is done, we urge you to remove the bus
lane as it is now regarded as dangerous and confusing by the Wilton community
and by senior Garda. It fails to comply with the design criteria committed to by
Mr Kevin Terry, City Engineer, in his letter of the 15 th November 2002 to the
Department of Transport. We would also ask you to install temporary traffic
lights and pedestrian crossings at Wilton Gardens junction as recommended by
Superintendent Barry, the Lord Mayor, Ms Mary Shields and all local councillors
as well as the Wilton Community.
Yours sincerely,
John Leahy,
On Behalf of Wilton Residents Association, Mobile: 0872264451.

Copy:
The Lord Mayor, Ms Mary Shields and South West Ward Councillors
An Garda Siochna, Wilton Residents, National Roads Authority, Simon Coveney
TD.
Jerry Buttimer TD. Minister for Transport, Sport and Tourism
P.S. The problems referred to above can be seen in detail on our Facebook page,
Wilton Road Traffic Watch