{"id":631285,"date":"2026-08-11T08:07:22","date_gmt":"2026-08-11T08:07:22","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/631285\/"},"modified":"2026-08-11T08:07:22","modified_gmt":"2026-08-11T08:07:22","slug":"almost-all-phoenix-park-drivers-break-the-speed-limit-its-a-problem-for-visitors-the-irish-times","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/631285\/","title":{"rendered":"Almost all Phoenix Park drivers break the speed limit. It\u2019s a problem for visitors \u2013 The Irish Times"},"content":{"rendered":"

Every year, more than 10 million motorists drive through Dublin\u2019s Phoenix Park<\/a>. Almost all are breaking the speed limit, yet there are no pedestrian crossings anywhere in the park.<\/p>\n

All the park\u2019s attractions \u2013 Dublin Zoo<\/a>, the People\u2019s Gardens, the Ashtown Castle visitor centre, Farmleigh House, the Magazine Fort and the almost 2,300 parking spaces \u2013 are accessible from Chesterfield Avenue, the main road dividing the park. Yet there is no dedicated way to walk across this 4km-long road.<\/p>\n

This might be acceptable if motorists stuck to the park\u2019s 30km\/h speed limit, but they don\u2019t. Traffic surveys commissioned by the Office of Public Works<\/a> found more than 95 per cent of motorists using Chesterfield Avenue are breaking the speed limit.<\/p>\n

Chief park superintendent Margaret Gormley acknowledges motorists are not respecting the 30km\/h limit, which was reduced from 50km\/h in February 2022, but it used to be worse, she says.<\/p>\n

\"AA 30km\/h road sign near the Chapelizod Gate in Phoenix Park after it was struck by a passing vehicle. Photograph: Olivia Kelly <\/p>\n

\u201cPeople are actually travelling slower now than they were. You have people driving at 40km\/h or 50km\/h, but they\u2019re not doing 70km\/h or 80km\/h. So it\u2019s not as bad as years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n

Driving the length of Chesterfield Avenue at 30km\/h instead of 50km\/h adds 2.2 minutes to the journey, but means a pedestrian has a much better chance, fivefold or more, of surviving being struck by a car.<\/p>\n

Gormley points to the low level of adherence to 30km\/h speed limits in the rest of the city. \u201cHow many people obey those?\u201d<\/p>\n

However, \u201cnot as bad as it was\u201d, and \u201cno one else is doing any better\u201d don\u2019t sound like great traffic management strategies for the State\u2019s premier national historic park. Gormley concedes the lack of adherence to the speed limit is a serious problem for the park but, to an extent, her hands are tied.<\/p>\n

After the limits were introduced in February 2022 and speed surveys in May of that year indicated they were being egregiously flouted, Gormley wrote to senior garda\u00ed<\/a> in the roads policing division to say she and her staff \u201cwitnessed numerous vehicles overtaking on the continuous white line on Chesterfield Avenue at speeds well in excess of 50km\/h\u201d.<\/p>\n

It had been her understanding garda\u00ed were in a position to enforce the new limits. \u201cWe would welcome Garda enforcement of this,\u201d she wrote. <\/p>\n

However, in response she was told the legislation governing the Phoenix Park \u201cdoes not confer power upon the Garda Commissioner to regulate speed\u201d.<\/p>\n

Following queries from The Irish Times, garda\u00ed have confirmed this remains the case. Although it has the power to prosecute offences such as \u201cdangerous driving, including speeding, within the park, as they would in any other public location\u201d, the power to impose speed limits in the park \u201cis vested in the OPW commissioners rather than An Garda S\u00edoch\u00e1na\u201d.<\/p>\n

\"AA burnt-out car on Acres Road in the Phoenix Park earlier this year. Photograph: Olivia Kelly <\/p>\n

With just 12 park rangers, and generally two working per shift, Gormley says, they are not in a position to \u201cpolice\u201d the speed limit, though she says all OPW staff in the park are instructed to drive at 30km\/h \u201ceven if they are getting blown out of it\u201d by motorists.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe make no apology for people being slowed down. If you\u2019re in a hurry, take a different road. This is a park. This is a destination; it\u2019s not a through road.\u201d It is notable, she says, that those who drive at excessive speeds through the park are those using it to cut through rather than to visit. \u201cThe people coming in as tourists, they\u2019re not speeding.\u201d<\/p>\n

Gormley, over 2022 and 2023, engaged with the Department of Transport with a view to enacting new legislation to facilitate enforcement by garda\u00ed.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0\u2018People look over the fence, taking photos\u2019: The pros and cons of living in the Phoenix ParkOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

In response to queries from The Irish Times, the Department of Transport said the next Road Traffic Bill will include provisions enabling enforcement of the Phoenix Park speed limit.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is expected that the General Scheme will be submitted to Government for approval before the end of the year,\u201d the department said.<\/p>\n

The OPW, Gormley says, has \u201ca very good working relationship with the garda\u00ed\u201d.<\/p>\n

In recent years, some of the park\u2019s roads have been closed to traffic, with others made one-way and two gates made either entry or exit only. At one of these gates, the Chapelizod gate, traffic surveys in 2022 showed an average of 160 cars a day continued to exit the gate in contravention of the new rules. <\/p>\n

Where the rangers report traffic infractions, garda\u00ed are quick to respond, Gormley says.<\/p>\n

\"CycleCycle stands in the Phoenix Park after they were struck by a vehicle in October 2023. Photograph: Olivia Kelly \"TheThe damaged bike stands were located close to the Papal Cross. Photograph: Olivia Kelly <\/p>\n

\u201cIf we find there\u2019s a little pattern, we will inform the guards, and they will spot check those areas. All you need is [a] patrol car sitting there one morning, and it will stop.\u201d<\/p>\n

The OPW is also working with Dublin City Council to upgrade walking and cycling facilities on Chesterfield Avenue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are actively working with Dublin City Council and Transport Infrastructure Ireland for a cycle scheme on Chesterfield, which includes 13 pedestrian crossing points,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

The Chesterfield Avenue Active Travel Scheme is at the preliminary design phase, according to the council.<\/p>\n

Cyclists in the park don\u2019t fare much better than pedestrians. The park is home to some poorly maintained and illogically designed cycle paths. There is little continuity in these paths, and where they exist, they almost all end abruptly, frequently spilling their users into the path of oncoming traffic.<\/p>\n

\"AA driver uses the cycle path to drive against traffic on North Road in the Phoenix Park. Photograph: Olivia Kelly <\/p>\n

There are a small number of off-road cycle paths, including the circular route at the 15 acres, opposite the Papal Cross, and along White Field\u2019s Road. However, these routes are not connected, so accessing them involves using the park\u2019s roads. Some of these have sections of cycle path, others don\u2019t.<\/p>\n

The only protected on-road paths are along Chesterfield Avenue, where the traffic wands are regularly uprooted by vehicle strikes.<\/p>\n

The other on-road paths have no grass verge barrier or wands; cyclists are left protected by paint, which is no protection at all given the chance of motorists speeding, using phones and even driving the wrong way down one-way roads using the cycle path.<\/p>\n

[\u00a0The future of Phoenix Park: How it is facing challenge of an expanding cityOpens in new window<\/a>\u00a0]<\/p>\n

Gormley says the cycle infrastructure in the park will be reviewed once the Chesterfield scheme is in place. \u201cChesterfield is the priority route, then we will go back and look at the other linkages.\u201d<\/p>\n

None of these traffic problems in the park are new. The first park management plan in 1986 identified the need for controls on the number of cars travelling through the park. Fifteen years ago, the 2011 Conservation Management Plan noted: \u201cAt times of heavy traffic, particular safety issues arise for pedestrians crossing Chesterfield Avenue and also on the North or Back Road. Cyclists are often forced out into heavy traffic at these times, creating unacceptable levels of conflict.\u201d<\/p>\n

A decade on in 2021, the Mobility Options Study was published, recommending the speed limit be reduced from 50km\/h to 30km\/h and pedestrian crossings on Chesterfield Avenue.<\/p>\n

Gormley says the OPW is \u201calways striving to improve\u201d park safety, but \u201cwe want to get the balance; we\u2019re not a police state. We want people to come and enjoy and have a pleasurable experience in the park. A safe experience. Given that we\u2019ve 10 million car journeys a year, we have very, very few incidents.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Every year, more than 10 million motorists drive through Dublin\u2019s Phoenix Park. Almost all are breaking the speed…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":631286,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[40],"tags":[956,9,10,24001,52,784,96008,18,13,14,6,19,17,11,12,15,16,5,105969,10475,11697,7,8,53919],"class_list":["post-631285","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-ireland","tag-an-garda-siochana","tag-breaking-news","tag-breakingnews","tag-department-of-transport","tag-dublin","tag-dublin-city-council","tag-dublin-zoo","tag-eire","tag-featured-news","tag-featurednews","tag-headlines","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-latest-news","tag-latestnews","tag-main-news","tag-mainnews","tag-news","tag-office-of-public-works","tag-phoenix-park","tag-road-safety","tag-top-stories","tag-topstories","tag-transport-infrastructure-ireland"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117075853180574226","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631285","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=631285"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/631285\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/631286"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=631285"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=631285"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=631285"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}