*Cllr Pat Burke (FG). Photograph: Eamon Ward
VISIBILITY at a junction labelled as “the bypass of Whitegate” needs to be enhanced to aid the safety of motorists, elected representatives have said.
Cllr Pat Burke (FG) recently asked that Clare County Council “improve safety for motorists at a dangerous junction known locally as ‘the three chimney house’ where the L4036 meets the R352. Extra warning signage is needed on the L4036 and visibility needs to be improved,” he outlined.
Acting senior executive engineer in the Killaloe Municipal District, Derek Troy flagged that no works were planned for this year. An assessment will be conducted “in order to generate a submission for low cost safety funding”. He noted that warning signage was erected at the location four years ago.
Speaking at a meeting of the Killaloe MD, Cllr Burke pointed out that the warning signage was put in place off the back of a previous motion. “The situation has improved, it is a very busy local road but it is more like a regional road with the amount of traffic it carries. New signage is needed, serious warning signage for people who are not used to the road, they don’t realise when they come to the regional road, they are out on the road before they know they have to stop”.
A change in land ownership by the junction could allow the local authority to accelerate improvements, Cllr Burke believed. “We’ve had a couple of minor accidents, we don’t want to see a serious accident. It is a busy junction, there is a lot of traffic coming across on that local road,” the Whitegate representative added.
“It is the bypass of Whitegate to a degree, people find it a shortcut from the Portumna Rd, there is many the car that has pulled out,” Cllr Pat Hayes (FF) commented. “It would be great to improve the sightlines, it merits work on it,” he said.
Addressing the meeting, senior executive officer, Morgan Lahiffe advised councillors that the practice in the past when Municipal Districts looked for funding through low cost safety schemes that junctions were identified, funding secured and then landowners were spoken to, has since changed. “We need to move to forward planning a bit more and approach the landowners in advance to see if we will have issues. There is no point getting funding and then realising we have issues,” he remarked.
