AN assessment will be carried out of a “dangerous junction” in Clarcastle after a woman was knocked down and injured.
A meeting of the Ennis municipal district heard serious safety issues have arisen at the junction near Clarecastle church.
The meeting was told the village has outgrown its existing infrastructure due to busier traffic flows and increased number of houses.
The meeting also heard that congestion could become a bigger problem in Clarecastle during site clearance work at the former Roche plant.
Councillors Paul Murphy (FG) and Tom O’Callaghan (FF) raised the issues of safety and traffic flow at the junction of Barrack Street, old Road, Church Drive and Creggaun Na Hilla.
Cllr Murphy proposed that a “road safety application is prepared and submitted as soon as possible seeking funding to improve safety at this location. This is a dangerous junction where three roads meet and there is the added complication of a carpark being adjacent to it also, a number of pedestrians have been knocked down and this needs to be given priority urgently”.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Murphy said, “I brought this up due to an increased frequency of mishaps or accidents at this junction. The most recent being in December where a lady got knocked down and was injured quite seriously. It does highlight how serious it is. It’s a case of a how a village has outgrown its existing infrastructure”,
He continued “That junction has been there for a long number of years and the village was small for a long time as well. Church Drive and Clarehill would have been the only two estates feeding onto it. But over the last 30,20 years we now have upwards of 220 houses in Creggaun Na Hilla, you have 50 houses in Primrose Gardens, 50 more between Orchard Drive and Beechwood and you have the outward growth of the village. You have far more traffic coming onto that junction. It is where all that traffic coming towards Ennis is coming through. It’s a busy spot for pedestrians. You have kids coming down from school”.
Cllr Tom O’Callaghan supported the call for the area to be assessed.
“There is congestion there. You could have a funeral from the church, school runs and now we are talking about Roche and the work that will be commencing there very shortly. It definitely warrants investigation. We did have in incident in the village and it was brought to my attention recently”, he said.
Cllr Ann Norton (Ind) said, “We all have to put safety as a priority. I think it is important that an investigation is done to ensure people feel safe in their own community. Whatever we can do to support local people and prevent accidents, it’s very important”.
In reply to the issue, Conor McDonagh, executive engineer, with the council’s road design section, stated, “Road design will carry out an assessment of the relevant junction and thereafter make a determination on what safety measure / intervention is appropriate at this location”.
