17 January 2005

Signs and speed limits to change in Republic

Motorists entering the Republic of Ireland are being reminded today that certain speed limits are due to change as the country adopts kilometres per hour this week.

From midnight on January 19, the speed limit on rural national and local roads will be reduced to 50mph (80 km/h), though national routes will have a 62mph (100km/h) limit.

Warning notices have already been erected recently on the main roads entering the Republic of Ireland following a decision by the Irish Government to adopt metric speed limits and distances. Every home in the Republic will receive a leaflet advising of the changes to the speed limits and road signage throughout the country's road network.

The new system will see the introduction of kilometres, (km), metres, (m) and kilometres per hour, (km/h), to the Republic of Ireland on Thursday, January 20. Signs will inform motorists, travelling over the border from Northern Ireland, that the speed limit is in km/h.

Following the announcement earlier this month a DOE spokesperson advised road users to think about the impact of the changes in advance and to pay particular attention on the cross border routes and on the roads throughout the Republic of Ireland.

As part of the changes, the current 'general speed limit' of 60 mph, which applies to non-motorway roads outside built-up areas, will be replaced by separate speed limits on rural national roads and rural regional and local roads.

The main changes include:

The speed limit on rural national roads, which includes most Dual Carriageways, will see a slight increase from 60 mph to 100 km/h (62 mph);
The speed limit on rural regional and local roads (non-national roads) will be reduced from 60 mph to 80 km/h (50 mph);
The speed limit in built-up areas (towns and cities) will change from 30 mph to 50 km/h (31 mph);
The speed limit on motorways will increase from 70 mph to 120 km/h (75 mph).

Full details are available on the Department of Transport's Go Metric website.

The Irish Government estimate that the total cost of the changeover will be €11.5 million euro of which €2.5m is being spent on a public information campaign.

(SP/MB)