Accusations of 'political games' regarding erection of speed signs on busy Laois road

Laois County Council has been called to erect 60km/h speed signs at key locations from Barrowhouse to Mageney junction to tackle speeding on the busy stretch of road.

Raising the motion at the November meeting of the Graiguecullen/Portarlington MD, Councillor Padraig Fleming said that people are getting caught speeding at the junction, especially from the Athy side, because there is no signage on the road. He said that people may be getting confused thinking it is an 80km/h road when it is actually 60km/h.

Cllr Fleming said it's critical that signage be put up at the many junctions along the road, including five roads to the right as you drive from the Barrowhouse area and three roads to the left as you drive to the Mageney Junction.

Senior Executive Engineer at Laois County Council, Tom Drennan, told Cllr Fleming that the locations for the signs have been identified and signs will be erected on the L-3976 road.

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Videos of people speeding on the road had been sent to Cllr Fleming and also Cllr Aisling Moran. Cllr Moran supported the motion, but raised issue with it being presented by Cllr Fleming as she said she had originally done so in September and again in October where she was told it would be completed.

Cllr Moran referred to the council's standing order on motions not being reopened again within 6 months by councillors. She said that as works take months to complete, some councillors "play political games" by "jumping in" just before works are done.

Cllr Fleming argued: "I don't know if you have the right to stop people putting in motions about different areas." He told Cllr Moran that he wanted her to "withdraw what you said" regarding the "major attack."