WITH a pedestrian entrance to return to St Flannan’s College for the first time since the 1970s, calls have been made for a controlled crossing to be introduced to complement these works.
In October, planning permission was granted to reopen a pedestrian entrance at St Flannan’s College. At present, the school has vehicular access through its entrance on College View Rd with two existing pedestrian access points.
Board of management at St Flannan’s College successfully applied to the local authority for permission to re-open the entrance on the boundary wall to the Clare Road, as well as erecting a barrier and gate. The access was previously used as a pedestrian access point in the 1970s and was the school’s main access location in the 1940s and 50s.
Preliminary meetings have taken place between St Flannan’s College, consulting engineers Punch and Clare County Council regarding the potential construction of a controlled crossing point adjacent to the proposed entrance.
At the November meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) asked the local authority to put down a controlled crossing on the R458 Clare Road. He stated, “It is important a controlled crossing is put in place fairly soon to accommodate students.
Final grant of planning must be issued before the Ennis MD will proceed with a Section 38 traffic calming public consultation for a controlled pedestrian crossing, senior executive officer Eamon O’Dea responded.
Cllr Mary Howard (FG) detailed previous motions she tabled on foot of two incidents where students were knocked down. Once the gate reopens, a pedestrian crossing is needed, she maintained. “Going forward it will be a great asset to the school and the town of Ennis,” Cllr Mark Nestor (FF) maintained.
