Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) “should be shot” for their input into the design of Clareabbey Roundabout, the Mayor of Ennis has remarked.
A preliminary design report is to be submitted to the TII before final approval is granted for works at Clareabbey Roundabout. “Approval in principle” has been received from Clare County Council’s road design office from the TII for the preferred design option submitted for the location, senior executive engineer John Gannon stated.
Baseline traffic speed and traffic volume counts including pedestrian and bicycle counts must also be carried out along with a safety audit and an update of the feasibility report with cost projections for the various design options submitted.
Mayor of Ennis, Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) sought an update on the draft proposals submitted that were aimed to improve safety for pedestrians and cyclists at the busy roundabout plus detail on the proposed Sustainable Biodiversity Project at Clareabbey.
County Arts Officer, Siobhán Mulcahy confirmed a commission brief for the artwork regarding the artistic proposal for the site is under development. “Preparations are underway to launch a call for proposals in the coming weeks,” she detailed.
“I have been banging on about this for years and will keep going on about it,” Cllr Murphy told the sitting of the Ennis MD. He criticised the lack of safety for pedestrians and cyclists, “TII should be shot for this one, it was like putting a knife through a pound of butter how they divided two communities” he declared of how Ennis and Clarecastle was split. “It is a fairly bland roundabout that doesn’t do much approaching Ennis”.
TII have failed to respond to calls from a delegation that approached the body regarding the roundabout, Cllr Ann Norton (IND) claimed. “It is unfortunate that they don’t seem to be listening, we need to put a bit more pressure on them, this is brought to their attention a number of times a year”.
