ATTEMPTS to solve traffic congestion at Blake’s Corner have finally turned a corner with judicial review proceedings on the proposed scheme for the Ennistymon inner relief road concluding in the High Court.
Mutual agreement has been agreed with all parties involved in the case which now allows the inner relief road, a project which has been in the offing since 2017 to move forward. The parties that reached the agreement were Clare County Council and a business man in the Ennistymon locality.
Blake’s Corner has long developed a reputation as one of the most notorious traffic blackspots in the Mid-West region with locals in Ennistymon and Lahinch along with visitors to North Clare annoyed by the pinch point for generations.
At the end of October, the High Court dismissed an application to bring a judicial review challenge against the proposed compulsory purchase order (CPO) for the Ennistymon inner relief road.
Clare County Council at the time announced the project would progress to the next stage but as reported by The Clare Echo at the time, this did not everything would be plain sailing for the inner relief road.
However all respective parties involved reached a mutual agreement on Friday at The High Court which now allows the project to move forward.
In a statement to The Clare Echo, Cllr Shane Talty (FF) commented, “This now ensures, that the next phase of the scheme development can commence immediately in 2026”. He thanked all involved “in bringing this stage to a conclusion”.
Speaking to The Clare Echo, Cllr Bill Slattery (FG) stated, “We’re delighted the news has come through today, especially before Christmas. Hopefully TII and Clare County Council now go to the next stage of tender for the design as soon as possible. We’re on this since 2017 and it has taken until 2025 to move it on, the judicial review has really slowed up the whole process, I’m glad it has been sorted out with the third party.
“It is the best Christmas present for the area if TII and Council go ahead straight away and don’t linger with any doubts on money and start the project very urgently,” he added.
As part of the scheme, a new bridge will be constructed approximately 80m upstream of the existing Michael Conway Bridge. The existing bridge, a protected 7-arch masonry bridge, will be pedestrianised and a plaza will be constructed at the western end. The scheme will include other enhancements to the area, including footpath improvements and enhanced crossing arrangements, landscaping, lighting and services enhancements, and other ancillary elements.
A review of previous studies of the junction at Blake’s Corner, a traffic modelling assessment of the improvement options and a design of an improvement scheme have all been carried out to find the most appropriate solution to deal with the longstanding traffic problems in Ennistymon.
In June 2020, Clare County Council published the Blake’s Corner CPO, the associated oral hearing for this was held in June 2021 with An Bord Pleanála granting the CPO approval in September 2022.
