Ballina roads to see reduction in speed limits... with one exception

The former N26 from Ballina to Carrentrilla will be the only rural local road in the Ballina Municipal District to retain its current speed limit of 80km/h with all other rural local roads set to have a limit of 60km/h under a new framework of default speed limits on Irish roads.

Councillors in the Ballina Municipal District proposed a by-law ruling that on the commencement of the new default speed limit of 60km/h for local roads, the old N26 would have a special speed limit of 80km/hr.

Each municipal district undertook an assessment of rural local roads to ascertain their suitability for a special speed limit of 80km/hr, for which the former N26 qualified.

Cllr John O’Hara said it was disappointing that Church Road, which connects areas such as Attymass, Bonnifinglas and Currower to Ballina, did not qualify for the special speed limit.

“60km is very slow for a road like that, if something happened on the main N26, this becomes the main road into Ballina,” he said.

Cllr Joe Faughnan said he would support any measures the council could implement to achieve an 80km/h speed limit on Church Road.

Area engineer Orla Bourke said Church Road did not meet the criteria for a special speed limit and would require significant investment to meet this criteria.

Phase 1 of the default speed limit changes, which impact rural local roads, are expected be commence by the end of November. Phase 2, which will see the default speed limit on national secondary roads and urban areas reduced to 80km/h and 30km/h respectively, is expected to commence in early 2025.