*Kenneth Daly campaigning for safer conditions on Droichead na Gabhair.
INTRODUCING a stop go system at Droichead na Gabhair / Drehidnagower Bridge is “not the answer” to solve safety issues along the Ennis bridge.
Elected representatives in the Ennis Municipal District, particularly Cllr Tommy Guilfoyle (SF) and Cllr Mary Howard (FG) have been vocal in advocating for improved road safety standards at the bridge which links the Gort Rd to Drumcliffe and the Lahinch Rd.
A motion was recently tabled on the matter by Cllr Guilfoyle who subsequently raised the issue after little progress was made.
Senior executive engineer in the road design office of Clare County Council Anne O’Sullivan advised that NTA Active Travel funding was provided to carry out a transportation assessment which included a feasibility and option selection report to examine pedestrian and cyclist permeability. She said,As Active Travel funding for a separate structural solution would not be available in the near or intermediate future, the preferred option to improve safety that has emerged is to install a 3.0m wide shared pedestrian/cyclist path with a 3.4m wide carriageway across the existing bridge, controlled by a signalised yield system”.
She said, “This solution of optimising and improving existing infrastructure is in line with the National Investment Frameworks for Transportation in Ireland (NIFTI) which is a guiding policy document for Active Travel Funding. The preliminary design for the bridge crossing is currently underway”.
In a renewed appeal, Cllr Guilfoyle called on the Director of Service in the Ennis MD, Carmel Kirby “to go back to the Executive and push for funding”. He stated, “a stop go system is not the answer, the NTA have it wrtong, the housing in the area requires it to be a two-way passing bridge. What is our plan to go back and get funding and to not accept a defeatist attitude”.
Examples have been set in Quin, Cllr Pat Daly (FF) flagged “on what could have been done” and remarked, “Droichead na Gabhair is much busier to Quin, it is near to Lees Rd and a huge amount of houses”. He recalled, “I’d a motion many years ago to be able to walk on one side of the bridge”. Residents have expressed their concerns, Cllr Tom O’Callaghan (FF) acknowledged. “Given the high volume of pedestrians in the locality, I’m in support of the request,” Cllr Paul Murphy (FG) stated.
“I live in the locality, I would have preferred a footpath to the side of it when the bridge was being upgraded,” outlined Cllr Howard. “We really need to think outside the box, there are sixty homes in the new housing scheme, they all have smallies who are heading towards Lees Rd, we need to put footpaths and cycle lanes there because they are using Lees Rd which is great”. She said she is “a scratched record” from raising the matter. “I’ve had a couple of frights particularly at winter time with young people coming home from study along the bridge and they are in their school uniforms which is dark clothing. It is an accident waiting to happen, at winter time it gives me the chills driving over it. We need to do everything in our power to identify a funding stream to make it safe and we need to make this a priority for this Council term”.
Traffic needs to be made slow down on the bridge, Cllr Antoinette Baker Bashua (FF) maintained. “We use that bridge a lot as a go-to to get to the other side of town, in evening time it is getting quite dark, a number of children on the bridge during the past week wearing dark clothing, we need to slow down the traffic”. She commented, “we have used it during the school hours when bringing senior students with additional needs over the bridge and it was not pleasant, in fact it was quite scary”.
Responding to councillors, Director Kirby said, “I hear what your request is, the tricky bit for all of us is that the NTA are willing to move ahead with the current proposal which gives a safety solution, if you all ask us to revisit it I’m willing to do that, it will pause the plans”. She said a meeting needs to be arranged with councillors and road design. “I hear what you’re saying to try have a more permanent sustainable solution, we’re very close to Lees Rd and the future LIHAF road so in the context of the future development I’m happy to pause this and have a look at this”.
Seán Lenihan who has since become Acting Director of Serice said, “I don’t know what they didn’t widen it back in the day, we did look at bringing in a pedestrian bridge independent of the LIHAF project, we all accept it needs to be improved greatly and the optimum would be a pedestrian bridge”.
Cllr Guilfoyle replied, “Everyone wants pedestrian safety but this is the capital town of Co Clare, the people living in the town and working there feel that the town is held up on every road with roadworks, we have money for everything else except Droichead na Gabhair Bridge, that has to stop”. He warned “the loss of life which I believe is imminent if we don’t do something”. He later retracted remarks for saying €10m was spent on “a white elephant” in the Market.
Speaking on the matter previously, senior engineer Eamon O’Dea said money has been sought from both Ennis Town Council and Clare County Council for “resolutions from this bridge which have been going on for some time, the present form that we can try secure some funding from is Active Travel”. Under Active Travel, a reuse of the existing infrastructure is what makes a successful application, he explained. “The funding application will be made to make footpaths up to the bridge and away from the bridge, that is what we are told by people who approve the funding, that would be the way I see it happening at the present”.
