Estate roads, entrances, footpaths and public lighting to Design Manual for Urban Roads and Streets. The national standard for roads and streets in towns, villages and suburbs, which puts walking, cycling and low speeds first. and council standards, with swept paths, sightlines and safety audits.
The road into a housing scheme is judged three times: by the planner, against the street design manual; by the road safety auditor; and by the council, when it decides whether to take the road in charge. A design drawn for all three is drawn once.
We design the layout, the entrance, the footpaths and the public lighting, run the swept paths and sightlines the planning application needs, carry out the road safety audits with an audit team independent of the design, and prepare the taking in charge submission at the end.
Roads, drainage and levels are drawn together, so the falls, the gullies and the SuDS in the verge agree before anything is laid.
Audits follow Transport Infrastructure Ireland. The state body for national roads. Its standards govern national roads and set out how road safety audits are carried out.'s road safety audit standard, carried out by a team independent of the designers. The council decides which stages a scheme needs, often as a condition of planning.
Stage 3 is carried out on the finished road before it opens, and Stage 4 a few months after. On a smaller scheme Stages 1 and 2 are often combined into one audit of the developed design.
| Stage | When | What it looks at |
|---|---|---|
| Stage F | Feasibility | The safety of each option while they are still being compared. |
| Stage 1 | Preliminary design | The layout and the junction strategy, before the detail is fixed. |
| Stage 2 | Detailed design | The detail: kerbs, crossings, lighting, signs and markings. |
| Stage 1 and 2 | Combined, on smaller schemes | Both in one audit, where the design is developed in one go. |
| Stage 3 | Completion, before opening | The road as built, checked on site before it is opened. |
| Stage 4 | Early operation | How the road is actually being used, a few months after it opens. |
Drawn to what the council will take in charge, not to what fits the site plan.
Monksland, Athlone, 2025
The road layout for twenty nine houses with swept path and sightline analysis, drawn to what the authority will take in charge.
Naas, Co. Kildare, 2023
Swept path and sightline analysis at the entrance, internal roads, parking and public lighting for four houses in Naas.
Drawings, a specification, or the site address and the programme dates: whatever you have is enough to start. We come back inside two working days, and a written fee proposal against a defined scope follows within three working days of that.