By Chris Ashmore

THE installation of speed ramps in a Letterkenny housing estate where a toddler was nearly knocked down recently is unlikely to happen in the short-term, it has emerged.

Speaking at Tuesday’s meeting of Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District Council, Cllr. Gerry McMonagle highlighted an incident where a parent had contacted him after they almost lost their child after their two-and-a-half year-old had stepped off the footpath just as a speeding motorist was going by.

The “near miss” had occurred on a straight road which starts in the Hillview estate and then goes into the Woodpark estate in the Lismonaghan area of the town.

Tabling a motion in which he called for speed ramps to be installed, he felt that this was the only way that motorists would slow down. He pointed out that there are already speed ramps in the Hillview part of the road, but there are none in the Woodpark part where the child had been.

Cllr. McMonagle stressed that he (and other councillors) have brought in many motions calling for speed ramps to be constructed as a form of traffic calming in different parts of the town, only to be told that there is no funding available.

“This child could have been killed,” he continued, adding that the child’s parents had not been well for days afterwards.

Calling for a workshop, he pointed out that putting up signs was not sufficient.

However, Senior Roads Engineer David McIlwaine, informed Cllr. McMonagle that the Woodpark estate is a private development, and is not the responsibility of Donegal Co. Council.

In effect, the council cannot put in ramps as things stand.

However, Mr. McIlwaine explained that if the council took over the services in the estate then it would be a matter it could look at. Cllr. McMonagle favoured the council taking over the footpaths and the road and called for the process to begin.