New speed limit and car restrictions for Phoenix Park

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Phoenix Park Speed Limit Changes to 30km/h

Speed limits and parking restrictions in the park

Minister of State for the Office of Public Works, Mr. Patrick O’Donovan T.D has introduced a new 30km/h speed limit in the Phoenix Park.

The restrictions start today, Monday, the 28th of February 2022. The new bylaws are in line with the Phoenix Park Transport and Mobility Options Report, published in January 2021 and which was finalised following public consultation in July last year.

A high-visibility Garda operation is being conducted in Phoenix park today as a new speed limit is introduced.

They will be there to enforce the new traffic restrictions and the 30 km per hour speed limit. 

A part of the strategy is to focus on finding a solution with illegal parking in the park which is seen by many, including the OPW Minister as a ‘quasi-dumping ground for parking’.  

This will prove to be one of the most significant restrictions on traffic in the park to date as the speed limits are reduced from 50km/h to just 30km/h.

Cars will also no longer be able to use the park’s main southern road as a throughway and the park’s northern road will now only be one way.

Phoenix Park Parking Restrictions

As part of the changes, the temporary cycle lanes, which replaced the parking on Chesterfield Road will now be made permanent. The Minister of State for Public Works, Patrick O’Donovan says that the new restrictions will save lives.

Our ambition is to protect life. We don’t want to have a situation where there’s a young child or any park user killed because of excessive speed, and we have gotten a lot of complaints in relation to motorists’ speed in the Phoenix Park.”

“We cannot continue to have the number of cars going into the Phoenix Park to park at the rate they are,” 

“Everything is free, gratis and for nothing up there at the moment.”

It was proposed during the planning stages that Dublin City Council and Fingal County Council would have to work with the OPW to devise parking solutions. Patrick O'Donovan went on to say:

“We will need the two local authorities to come up with solutions short term and medium term to help us manage parking into the future. What is not sustainable in to the future is that it becomes something of a quasi-dumping ground for parking.

“Sustainability has to become a factor in this. A lot of the other tourist attractions are not providing car parking, but somehow [it] seems to have become our responsibility to find car parking on our site just for our visitors alone.”

Phoenix Park Traffic

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Justin Kavanagh
Justin Kavanagh is a recognised leader in automotive intelligence and vehicle data supply to the entire motor industry. He has almost 20 years experience in building systems from the ground up. As the Managing Director of Vehicle Management System, he understands the need and importance of trustworthy and reliable vehicle history and advice to both the trade and the public.
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