*The Shanaway Rd junction.
PROPOSALS for a new design of the Shanaway Road junction on the N85 are to be prepared in tandem with a cycle lane scheme planned for the Lahinch Rd in Ennis.
Cllr Mary Howard (FG) who has been consistently vocal on calls for improvements in the area tabled a motion at the June meeting of the Ennis Municipal District to ascertain if progress had been made to find a solution “to the issues” at the Shanaway Rd junction.
Engagement is ongoing between Clare County Council’s road design office and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) “in devising potential design solutions for the existing Shanaway Road junction on the N85 national road,” acting senior executive engineer with the Council, Conor McDonagh stated.
Active Travel funding to facilitate the commencement of a concept design for cycling facilities on the N85 from Loughville to the Claureen roundabout and beyond has recently been announced by the National Transport Authority (NTA).
McDonagh stated, “the existing junction with Shanaway Road will be required to be modified to accommodate this Active Travel scheme. It is therefore our intention to continue to liaise with both TII and the NTA as the concept design is developed later this year to resolve the ongoing issues as part of the Active Travel scheme”.
Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Howard reminded her colleagues she has been raising the matter for the past fifteen years. “There have been quite a few accidents at this junction, I’m afraid that I will wake up one morning to hear someone has been seriously injured or worse,” she cautioned.
Describing it is “a really difficult junction,” Cllr Howard stressed that it must become a top priority. “The only way for traffic to come out safely is onto Lahinch Rd. I always go left and rarely right because you can’t go past two lanes of traffic”.
Seconding the proposal, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) acknowledged it was an ongoing junction, “it is the same junction for the past 100 years but thousands of houses have been built there since, it is time TII got their act together”.
“Someone told me it should be called Anyway Rd and not Shanaway Rd,” Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) quipped. He suggested an interim solution be implemented similar to what it is in place at Corrovorrin Junction.
Acting senior executive engineer in the Ennis MD, Paddy Tiernan told councillors that they were aware of plans for the new cycle lane scheme on the Lahinch Rd. “Our current position is to liaise with TII and NTA in conjunction to effectively kill two birds with the one stone. The conversations with TII have been difficult and haven’t moved as quickly as we’d like”.
Concluding the discussion, Cllr Howard stated, “The road is getting busier, it is a busy hotel since it reopened after COVID, Banner GAA have a huge amount of people going there and Woodstock Golf Club is very busy. There was three accidents there within 10 days, it only a matter of time before it happens because people are taking chances”.
