*Mill Rd in Ennis. Photograph: Páraic McMahon.
ABSENCE of a footpath along the Mill Rd in Ennis has been described as “dangerous” but proposals within the local transport plan are set to navigate past the protected structure blocking the installation of the infrastructure.
Along the section of the western side of the carriageway of the Mill Rd in Ennis there is danger for pedestrians, Cllr Clare Colleran Molloy (FF) flagged.
In a motion before the Ennis Municipal District, she asked that the “the dangerous lack of footpath from the Centra on Mill Rd which cuts off abruptly forcing pedestrians to walk onto the busy road,” to be assessed. She continued, “There is a relatively high footfall in this area due to the many shops and activities in the area, so it would be worthwhile to examine options to address pedestrian safety”.
Acting senior engineer in the Ennis MD, Paddy Tiernan advised that solutions to having footpaths on both sides of the Mill Rd were being examined as part of the Ennis Local Transport Plan.
He explained that the three-bay, two-storey former corn store which was constructed in approximately 1790 is a protected structure is the reason why a footpath does not exist on the western side of the Mill Rd carriageway. “The presence of this structure results in insufficient space being available for both a two-lane carriageway with a footpath on either side. We are confident the proposals within the Local Transport Plan will address and solve this issue and allow for a new footpath to be installed at this location”.
Mayor of the Ennis MD, Cllr Colleran Molloy admitted she was unaware that protected structure dated back to 1790 but welcomed “a very positive response” from the local authority.
Seconding the request, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua outlined, “the fact there is shops, hairdressers and spa treatments on that road there is a lot of people using it. I was thinking how they’d put a footpath there because it is directly adjacent to where I live, I’d welcome a timeline if we could get it, it is a danger and quite a fast road, the whole road could be up for inspection safety wise to try slow down the speed, I could be wrong on that”.
Mill Rd and Carmody Street serves as “one of the busiest roads in the town with a lot of commercial activity. Protection for pedestrians is important a footpath extension would be welcome,” maintained Cllr Pat Daly (FF).
Traffic movement cannot be impacted by any proposal, cautioned Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF). “This is a main tributary accesses road to Ennis, I would stress anything to prevent traffic movement would be a very poor engineering decision, I looked at the footpath in detail, it is skinny in places and if you are on a wheelchair you would have a difficulty. If you use your head and look at it, when you come from the Cloughleigh side to the old building and had a zebra crossing, you can cross the road at the zebra crossing and go onto the wider footpath. I would stress not to do anything to impact on traffic movement, I’d stress on any plans that they don’t talk about anything other than protecting pedestrians and the flow of traffic”. He said the Council is “accused daily of being anti-car” and urged officials not to strengthen this rhetoric.
Memories of “legging it to Downes & Howard which used to be our local shop,” were recalled by Cllr Mary Howard (FG). She suggested a corridor be put through the corn store to improve accessibility. “It is quite dangerous, cars are only getting faster, that is the reality and cars are not coming off the road any time soon”.
Having studied the reply again, Cllr Colleran Molloy observed, “The response doesn’t say if there will be an additional footpath. I was thinking of an additional footpath”.
In response, Tiernan flagged that the local transport plan is referenced in the reply. “There will be proposals that I don’t want to get into today and undermine process ongoing at the minute. When there is space issues we can’t make the roads wider because we’ve private property on either side, the option of a zebra crossing is something we’ve toyed with or a single lane on that road, I’ve looked at Cllr Howard’s proposal to go through building because the width of a wall is the width of the footpath, we’ve spoken to owner of the building, fortunately or unfortunately it can’t be knocked and won’t be knocked because it is a protected structure, I don’t want to get caught up in undermining what is going on with the local transport plan, ye had a briefing with Eamon (O’Dea, senior engineer). I’d like to wait until everything is discussed holistically”.
