DRIVERS are doing donuts at the entrance to a graveyard in Meelick, a county councillor has said while issuing an appeal for traffic calming measures.
Provision of speed ramps at the entrance to Ballycannon Cemetery in Meelick was sought by Cllr Pat O’Gorman (FF) at a recent sitting of the Shannon Municipal District. “There are twelve houses inside this entrance with children playing and the road is being used by speeding cars,” he explained.
Funding has been issued by Clare County Council from the National Transport Authority for an upgrade to footpaths in Meelick, senior executive engineer Tom Mellett confirmed. “The path will cover the area within the speed limit zone, with a terminal point at Ballycannon Cemetery. This project is currently at design stage and will include measures to control traffic movements here,” he stated.
Residents are already attempting to slow down traffic by putting bollards on the road, Cllr O’Gorman flagged. “People are going in, doing donuts twisting and turning on the road,” he said.
Jeff Gordon popularised the donut manoeuvre, he first did this as a celebration after winning NASCAR Cup Series championship at Atlanta Motor Speedway in 1995. It entails rotating the rear or front of the vehicle around the opposite set of wheels in a continuous motion, creating a circular skid-mark pattern of rubber on a carriageway and possibly even causing the tires to emit smoke from friction.
Addition of a new road surface from Brennan’s Cross has led to the speeding in Meelick, Cllr PJ Ryan (IND) believed. “Residents are fearful for their children with the speed that cars are going at,” he added.
