COMHAIRLE CONTAE ÁTHA CLIATH THEAS2
SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

MEETING OF SOUTH DUBLIN COUNTY COUNCIL

Monday, July 14, 2025

QUESTION NO. 16

QUESTION: Councillor H. Farrell

To ask the Chief Executive for a report on 'wide vehicles' within the County. The report should include the current dimensions that define a 'wide vehicle', how these dimensions are determined, and if there are any known plans by Government to update them in response to the increasing width of most road vehicles year on year.

REPLY:

The relevant Irish regulations in relation to the management of wide vehicles or loads is governed under the Road Traffic (Special Permits for Particular Vehicles) Regulations 2007. SI 283 of 2007.

A wide vehicle is defined as a vehicle or load that is greater than 2.9m.  If a load or vehicle exceeds exceeds 2.9m in width, an application for transport of an abnormal load permit needs to be sent to the Local Authority on whose road network the load is going to travel. An example of Special Permit for Abnormal Loads is attached to this report.

Based on the dimensions and weight of the load, conditions and mitigation measures may be applied to the granted abnormal load permit.  These can include the restriction of the use of certain roads that are deemed unsuitable for the load or vehicle. Other restrictions may include, restriction of the times when the load is transported, the use of support escort vehicles or the use of a Garda escort team for extremely large loads.

Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) is currently developing a national framework for the management of abnormal and oversized loads, which includes wide vehicles. This work aims to support and streamline existing permitting processes managed by An Garda Síochána and local authorities.

TII’s objectives include the standardisation of permit procedures, introduction of risk-based assessment tools, protection of road infrastructure, improved inter-agency coordination, and the potential implementation of digital permit tracking systems.

The ongoing TII-led research is expected to serve as a foundation for future Department of Transport policy or regulatory updates in this area.

The Local Authorities use other management protocols for larger vehicles such as Heavy Goods Vehicles that do not exceed the "wide load" limits mentioned above.  These include the use of HGV weight restrictions on key identified roads on the network.  Generally, these restricted roads are narrow roads, roads with a high pedestrian usage or where special groups of people may be present (schools).  These weight restricted roads must be agreed by an Garda Síochána as they are responsible for the enforcement of the relevant weight restrictions.

Thirdly, urban roads are designed in accordance with the Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets (DMURS 2019).  This document sets out the principal widths, bend designs and junction designs applicable for each type of urban road.

In the DMURS document, there has been a focus on reducing the width of urban streets and junction radii in an effort to reduce vehicle speed to protect pedestrians and cyclists that may also be present.

There is an acknowledgement that certain categories of vehicle are now more prevalent on our road network.  Sport Utility Vehicles (SUV), and 7 seater family vehicles are now more commonplace. 

Road Designers take these larger vehicles into account with modifications of the "Autotrack" design packages. These design packages check whether these larger vehicles can drive successfully on the proposed road layouts - particularly at bends and junctions.