Cork City Council urged to act on inactive road signs in village 

The chairperson of a community association in a village on the outskirts of Cork City, where locals previously held demonstrations to highlight concerns over speeding, has urged Cork City Council to replace batteries in driver feedback signs in the village which have been out of action for more than three years.

Iain McGregor, chairman of the Clogheen/Kerry Pike Community Association, claimed that in December 2020, city council removed batteries from two electronic speed signs either side of Kerry Pike and an electronic sign informing drivers of a school ahead.

Mr McGregor told The Echo it was his understanding that this was a “preventative measure” taken by the local authority as batteries were being stolen from such signs and the council temporarily removed the batteries in the signs at Kerry Pike while it sought a solution to the issue.

Repeated attempts 

However, he claimed that more than three years later — and despite repeated attempts to get the local authority to replace the batteries — the signs are still out of operation.

“For the last four years we’ve been fighting tooth and nail asking them to replace them [the batteries],” Mr McGregor said.

“They replaced them on the very quiet Lee Rd, they replaced them down in Inniscarra, they seem to replace them everywhere but for some unknown reason they have never replaced them in Kerry Pike and these signs are now covered by brambles.

“They don’t have any visual impact at all.”

In June 2022, residents in the village of Kerry Pike and its environs held demonstrations to highlight concerns about speeding in the area, which they said had gotten “progressively worse” in recent years.

Traffic calming measures

Earlier this year, Cork City Council published the ‘Kerry Pike Pedestrian Improvement Scheme’ for public consultation, proposing the provision of traffic calming measures in the form of raised tables to encourage lower vehicle speeds through the village, along with proposals to provide a continuous footpath through the village and other measures.

Mr McGregor said the village urgently needs the driver feedback and school ahead warning sign back in operation.

The community association chairperson said he has lodged a complaint with the council on the matter, as he believes having these signs out of action is “highly dangerous” given the tight roads in the village and the volume of traffic.

Cork City Council was approached for comment.