CORK County Council has rejected complaints about the traffic calming measures at Cork Road in Skibbereen insisting it is compliant with standards.

One local woman claimed a bushing in her vehicle’s suspension was damaged when she drove over one of the two raised portions of the road, which the council is calling a ‘table’ rather than a
speed ramp.

Councillors have also questioned the steep gradient of the ramps but a council spokesperson said: ‘It is fully compliant with the relevant standards and best practice.’

Comments about the road works have been lengthy and varied on social media with many motorists saying there are insufficient warnings for unsuspecting motorists​, and that lighting at night is inadequate to prepare motorists for what’s ahead.

Others claim the gradient of both tables is too severe and that it causes vehicles to land with a bang both on and off the ramp at the junction leading to local schools, and in front of the local courthouse.

A spokesperson for Cork County Council reminded motorists that the work was carried out as part of the Safe Routes to Schools programme.

‘The objectives of this programme include reducing vehicular traffic volume and speed, discouraging set down at the school entrance, and improving road safety for school children,’ said the spokesman.

‘The traffic calming measures, lighting, signage, and drainage associated with the safe routes to school scheme delivered on the Cork Road, Skibbereen, are fully compliant with the relevant standards and best practice,’ he added.

Other people commenting online agree that the work at Cork Road was needed as a matter of urgency to protect the hundreds of children attending local schools in the area, as well as the hundreds more accessing Skibbereen Sports Centre, which is on the same road.

The local authority spokesperson said: ‘Cork County Council urges all road users to drive with due care and attention, particularly in the vicinity of schools, for their own safety and the safety of road-going school children.’