Speeding Concerns in Bearna Village

Speed of 84km/h captured at the electronic recording device at Lenerevagh, Bearna, January 2018.

With our roads getting busier, and our schools growing larger, there is increasing concern about the safety of pedestrians.

There are a number of traffic calming measures in place, but none actually slow vehicles down. The latest one to be added between Bearna Church and village is an electronic sign which records the speed of approaching vehicles. This does tend to cause motorists to slow down, but they speed up again as they head for the village.

The letter below (in relation to Bearna specifically) was sent to Paraic Breathnach, Galway County Council's senior engineer for Connemara (pbreathnach@galwaycoco.ie) along with Connemara area Councillors this week.

Feel free to copy it, add to it, edit it, send pictures etc, so that these concerns can be heard. Perhaps add that the parking situation outside Bearna school is inadequate, and proper facilities need to be provided for the safety of the children.

“A chara,

I wish to highlight the dangerous traffic situation in Bearna village.

There are little or no effective traffic calming measures in the village centre - despite it being the location of a busy national school (Scoil Sheamais Naofa).

This is not a new issue. Previous excuses given by Galway County Council have been that it is not possible to install speed bumps as it is a main route - but the same rules do not seem to apply in Oughterard village, which is on the N59.

Because it is on the main road to South Connemara, trucks, buses, and cars have no choice but to pass through Bearna. However, without speed bumps, they can speed through the village without any difficulty. 

A electronic speed sign has recently been installed on the approach to the village (city side). This has the desired effect, in most cases, but vehicles speed up again when they get past it, as they enter the village.

I look forward to your response, which will be shared with followers of Bearna Beo community Facebook page and website.

Yours sincerely,”

We cc'd local Councillors in the same email: Noel Thomas <nthomas@cllr.galwaycoco.ie>; Séan Ó Tuairisg <sotuairisg@cllr.galwaycoco.ie>; Niamh Byrne <nbyrne@cllr.galwaycoco.ie>; and Thomas Welby <twelby@cllr.galwaycoco.ie>. Our own local Councillor, Tom Curran, doesn't have email. His postal address is: Na Fothraí Maola Thiar, Bearna, Co. Galway.