Process of reducing speed limits in Laois towns to 30km/h to begin in early 2026

The process of introducing 30km/h speed zones in towns across Laois is set to get underway at the beginning of 2026.

Laois County Council will begin assessing urban and built-up areas around the county in January with the aim of implementing the new speed limits by March 2027 as part of the Government's Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030.

The objective of the plan, which was published in July, is reducing deaths and serious injuries on roads by 50% by 2030.

In February of this year, a new default 60km/h speed limit was imposed on rural local roads which replaced the previous default 80km/h.

This next step in reducing the speed limit in urban and built-up areas is part of Phase 2 of the Road Safety Strategy 2021-2030. 

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It was previously expected that the 30km/h speed limit would be a default speed limit across the country as it was with the reduction from 80km/h to 60km/h in February. This change suggests that less roads would see the reduction in speed.

Simon Walton, Director of Services at Laois County Council, has confirmed that the council will carry out a review of the existing speed limits in these areas in January, with the review process to be completed by October.

There will be a number of workshops with elected members to review which roads should see the decrease. Once the draft bye-laws are approved by the relevant authorities, then it must be put to public consultation for 30 days. More details are to be given on this in the new years. 

For sections of national roads which pass through these areas are selected for the new 30km/h speed limit, Transport Infrastructure Ireland will have to approve the change.

Local councillors have welcomed the beginning of the review process, saying that speed is a consistent problem raised within their different municipal districts. Councillors have also previously raised the idea of reducing speed limits in certain areas.

Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme