Home News Latest News Council urged to act on ramp complaints

Council urged to act on ramp complaints

Tuesday, 06 January 2009

SPEED ramps in a Southside suburb are too large and are damaging residents’ cars, a local election candidate has claimed. Labour Party candidate in the Stillorgan Ward, Richard Humphreys, has compared the ramps on a residential road in Mount Merrion to ones that the British Army constructed in South Armagh during the troubles. He claimed a number of residents on the Rise in Mount Merrion have complained to him about the fact that these ramps are extremely high and have allegedly caused damage to some cars. The traffic calming ramps on the Rise were initially provided by the council in the first phase of the traffic calming scheme for the Mount Merrion area. Neil Lamb, who lives on the Rise, said all of the ramps on the road were “unusually high” but he believed that one in particular had caused damage to a lot of the vehicles. “There is one particular ramp on the Rise where the foundations must have moved and it is buckled,” he explained. “You would know the motorists are not from the area because they don’t slow down sufficiently and they invariably get a very bad rocking and some of them hit the ramp quite hard. “The unsuspecting motorist wouldn’t be aware of the damage these ramps can cause. I cannot understand how this can be left for so long.” Richard Humphreys said he has written to the county manager seeking modifications to the ramps. “The extraordinarily high ramps on the Rise in Mount Merrion are an assault on drivers that would stand comparison with the ramps constructed by the British Army in South Armagh at the height of the troubles,” he declared. He stated that the impact and design of the ramps on the Rise is significantly more severe than that of traffic calming schemes elsewhere. He explained that the ramps are of about the maximum internationally accepted size of 75mm. “Secondly, the ramps have a relatively short slope before one hits the ramp itself,” he continued. “There is a relatively steep gradient on each side and there are clear signs of scraping against vehicular under carriages, which are visible on ramps. The overall assault on the driver is reinforced by the sheer number and proximity of ramps on the Rise.” A spokesman for the council said the ramps installed on the Rise were “fit for purpose” and have proven to be an effective means of traffic calming. He added that at the time of installation, design guidelines stipulated a ramp height of 100mm with an approach gradient of approx one in eight, which was in accordance with best practice at the time for Ireland and the UK.  “Current design standards now apply a 75mm height ramp, as these have been found to be as effective in speed reduction as a 100mm high feature and also lessens the likelihood of grounding,” he said. He added that in conjunction with the local authority’s reconstruction programme, these early ramps in the Rise are routinely replaced to a height of 75mm in accordance with today's “best practice and guidelines”.