Public Consultation Meeting – Ballinode/ Scotstown

Staff from our Roads, Active Travel and Community Sections together with John O’Flaherty, Tobin Consultants attended a public consultation meeting on the evening of Wednesday 22^nd May in Ballinode Community Hall, which was extremely well attended.

This event provided a platform for the Council to inform the community about the preferred route option linking the villages of Ballinode and Scotstown, and to listen to the views and concerns of all. The positive feedback and meaningful engagement demonstrated the need and desire to build a stronger connection and to provide safe facilities for pedestrians and cyclists between the two villages.

Monaghan County Council are exploring the option of trialling a “Quiet road” in Monaghan and the concept was presented to those in attendance.

Quiet Roads or Quiet Lanes are designated rural roads where traffic volumes and vehicles speeds are relatively low. The objectives of such a scheme are:

Aim to encourage people to travel by walking, wheeling or cycling.
Preserve the character and tranquillity of the rural environment and contain traffic growth.
Support access to outdoors for everyone.

Key Elements would include:

Community involvement to encourage a change in driver behaviour.
Area-wide directional signing to discourage or reroute through traffic.
Quiet road entry and exit signs to remind drivers that they are entering or exiting a Quiet Road – may expect people to be using the whole of the road space for a range of activities
Safety measures such as- traffic calming, passing bays/pull in areas, vertical/horizontal deflections, improvement in sight lines, reduced speed limits.

Following on from the public consultation and meetings with community groups and landowners, council staff are going to explore funding opportunities with Department of Transport. The DOT have committed to establish a working group to determine the design details and legislative changes necessary to implement such a scheme in Ireland. It is hoped that this could be a pilot in County Monaghan, and we look forward to working with all stakeholders in the future with a view to having this innovative scheme implemented.

Thank you to everyone who participated and contributed to this very important discussion.