A temporary renting of solar lighting for Cappahard Lane in Ennis has been sought as an application under the Active Travel Fund is prepared for the area.

Increased speed and traffic in the area prompted Cllr Johnny Flynn (FG) to seek road safety improvements under the 2021 roads budget include Cappahard Lane. He believed sections without road markings, footpaths and public lighting needed to be rectified.

Funding under the Active Travel Fund will be sought for the provision of footpaths on Cappahard Lane, senior executive engineer Eamon O’Dea confirmed.

Speaking at the February meeting of the Ennis Municipal District, Cllr Flynn equated the width of the road at Cappahard Lane as that of a motorway. “It is a fabulous surface but it has no lighting, footpath or road markings”. He stated that Cappahard Housing Estate meets the road referenced and that “development levy contributions” were paid. The road is used as a rat run, he outlined, “the residents tell me they had commitments that safety works would be done on this stretch”.

“It is an unusual road,” Cllr Ann Norton (IND) commented as she seconded the motion. “It is a built up area with fine stand alone houses and then access to a housing estate. I can understand why it needs the work done like footpaths and lighting, it is quite a built up area out the Tulla Rd. It is a lovely road if you are interested in walking to do a fine circle but again it would be dangerous in the evenings because it is so dark,” she stated.

Undertakings had been given by Ennis Town Council when the road was taken in charge, O’Dea informed the meeting. The housing scheme was done under An Bord Pleanála conditions facing onto the road which “is probably the correct design”. He said, “It is a necessity to provide drainage works, footpaths and public lighting to improve safety and access of that location. The level of discretionary maintenance coming to Ennis MD is fairly tight, we don’t have level of funding to carry out this work but will look to carry it out as soon as possible”.

As an interim measure, Cllr Flynn called for “some form of solar street lighting” to be rented. “I was walking it recently with my wife and two tiny young fellas aged three or four were running over and back” across the road from the house. He labelled the current conditions “very dangerous” and flagged that the speed of some motorists was not paying cognisance to the safety of others.