Dowds seeks imposition of weight restrictions in Palmerstown roads

The need to impose a weight restriction on Kennelsfort Road and the surrounding roads in Palmerstown was raised in the Dáil by Dublin Mid-West Labour Deputy Robert Dowds.

The residents there want a 3.5 tonne weight restriction limit imposed he said firstly because all the roads concerned are residential roads not suited to large heavy vehicles. “Some are on a hill, especially Kennelsfort Road, which adds to the noise made by large vehicles,” he said. “Second, a significant number of trucks come off the R148, which becomes the N4 west of the M50, on to Kennelsfort Road in particular. However, the other roads need to be included in the restriction area, because if it only applied to Kennelsfort Road, truck drivers might use the other roads as an alternative and come in off the area called "The Oval."

Third, Deputy Dowds said a 3.5 tonne restriction limit would be in line with the 3.5 tonne restriction limit on Ballyfermot Road, Dublin 10, which is, in reality, a continuation of Kennelsfort Road. The only difference, he said, is that Ballyfermot Road is in the Dublin City Council area, as opposed to Kennelsfort Road which is under the domain of South Dublin County Council.

“Fourth, currently Kennelsfort Road has a 7.5 tonne restriction limit which is widely ignored,” he said. “A 3.5 tonne restriction limit would respect the residential nature of the area. There is one industrial estate up this road but this can be accessed by non-residential roads, such as off the N4 at Liffey Valley shopping centre, along the Fonthill and Coldcut Roads. There are also industrial estates and a prison between Palmerstown and Clondalkin, which are often accessed from Kennelsfort Road. These can also be accessed from the same Liffey Valley N4 exit.”

Deputy Dowds said he was raising this because of the extreme frustration of residents at the failure to make progress.

Replying on behalf of the Minister for Transport, Minister of State Robert Dowds said while I cannot comment on the specifics of any weight restriction currently applying to the Kennelsfort Road, decisions in respect of the application of such weight restrictions are entirely a matter for the relevant local authority. “In this instance, and based on the intervention of Deputy Dowds, that would appear to be South Dublin County Council, though my script states it is Dublin City Council,” he said. “The Minister does not have any role to play in such decisions.”

Individual local authorities are best placed to assess the particular local vehicle weight requirements, based on either road safety or traffic management grounds, which should apply to a particular individual road, he said. “However, as previously mentioned, if such weight limit controls are applied, local authorities must erect signage that is in full compliance with regulations. The enforcement of road traffic regulations governing vehicle weight limits on any particular public road is a matter for An Garda Síochána.”