*Photograph: John Mangan
INTRODUCTION OF A ONE-WAY system in Feakle could be on the cards in an effort to improve conditions for pedestrians.
A planned programme of works for the footpath between Feakle village and post office was requested by Cllr Pat Hayes (FF).
He said it was currently “in a state of disrepair, presenting hazards and inconvenience to pedestrians resulting in individuals walking on the road instead of the footpath. It is essential to address the poor condition of the footpath and provide a safe and suitable walking surface for residents and visitors to Feakle”.
Officials in the Killaloe Municipal District will develop a footpath upgrade project proposal in the coming weeks, acting senior executive engineer Derek Troy confirmed. This will cover between the village and post office and also to Smyths and the Digital Hub.
Troy stated, “consideration on these routes will be given to improving pedestrian and cycling permeability and safety. It is possible that works could involve the acquisition of or dedication of lands to achieve the required road and footpath widths or the introduction of a one-way system if required”.
This proposal is to be forwarded to Clare County Council’s road design section for inclusion in the countywide submission under the Active Travel programme.
Speaking at the May meeting of the Killaloe MD, Cllr Hayes stated, “presently it is one of the traversed routes where people go to post office, graveyard and Peppers”. He added, “The sooner we get a plan, I’m worried or don’t know, we will have to invest ourselves in some form of that, we can’t be depending on an application, we already have a priority list as it is”.
Conditions are “not up to present day standards,” Cllr Joe Cooney (FG) commented. “It would be great if it could be looked at, improve the safety between lower and upper Feakle”.
Cllr Pat Burke (FG) questioned what the local reaction would be to the introduction of a one-way system.
“That is a decision for a community, it is something for them to consider. Ultimately it is working in collaboration, there is a strong community council recently elected in Feakle, they have their views and Derek might meet them, all issues need to be looked at here,” Cllr Hayes responded. He acknowledged that the one way system in Mountshannon “works fairly well” and that a footpath at the current standard could not be justified.
Burke added, “the Mountshannon community were reluctant but now they would never go back to the way it was”.
All options will be assessed, the senior engineer stated. “We will look at all options, the footpath is narrow and so is the roadway, we will look at options of extending it, if both of those options failed we would look at the one way, it is up to Community Council and landowners to reach an agreement”.
