Traffic calming measures and enforcement needed in Athboy
A warning that someone will be killed on the Navan entrance to Athboy, has been made by local residents who have witnessed several accidents in the area caused by speeding.
Cars whizz by the entrance to housing estates, the school, GAA club, a creche and nursing home ignoring the 50km speed limit, according to worried residents.
Will Baker feared for his life recently when a speeding car mounted the footpath in front of him.
"We were out for a walk when a car lost control, mounted the footpath and hit three electricity poles. We were lucky he didn't kill us. "
He recalled another incident where a car knocked out the electricity supply and internet connection at one local estate and of a number elderly residents were left without their personal safety alarms for nearly two weeks.
"There have been five or six accidents on this strip over the last few years and many of them have been single vehicle accidents caused by pure speed.
"There is a broken white line and motorists are forever overtaking at speed, despite being within the 50km limit.
"If I am leaving the entrance to our estate, and I check the traffic, I could see a car about 250km away, but then another car just comes and overtakes it. Those leaving town speed up as soon as they get to the bottom of the hill and those coming into town don't slow down.
"It is very frightening. We have asked for traffic calming but we keep being told they cannot do ramps, they cannot do rumble strips. There should be a pedestrian crossing at the GAA club because everyone crosses to the road there."
Mr Baker said the speed is particularly bad when the town isn't busy, as the traffic makes no attempt to slow down as it approaches the town.
"There have been some very serious accidents here and we genuinely fear there will be a tragedy," he said.
Cllr David Gilroy also lives on the Navan Road. "I see the cars whizzing by every day. It is very dangerous. Most road users are very responsible but there are drivers who need reminding to slow down.
"Residents have been raising this issue for years. We need traffic calming and we need enforcement."
Cllr Gilroy said it is not just cars and trucks speeding from the Navan direction. There is also a problem with speeding into the town from the Delvin direction along the N51 and in both directions along the R154 from Trim and Oldcastle.
"Inbound traffic on the Oldcastle road is particularly bad because they are speeding downhill.
"We are always being told that they cannot do any traffic calming on the N51 because it is a national route, but on the N51 in Delvin there are plenty of traffic calming measures.
"I am calling on the road safety officer to work with the gardai. Traffic calming measures and enforcement are needed at the approach roads to the town and also at Rathmore school."
Cllr Gilroy raised the issue at last week's meeting of Kells Municipal Council calling on the Council’s Road Safety Section to engage "as a matter of urgency with An Garda Síochána to develop a coordinated road-safety and enforcement plan addressing residents’ serious concerns regarding speeding on the principal approach roads into Athboy, particularly the N51 and R154.”
He was told the Athboy Public Realm was being progressed and the scope had been expanded beyond the town centre to include approach roads from the eastern and western speed limit gateways on the N51. The broader scheme seeks to provide a more comprehensive response to traffic management and road safety objectives within Athboy. As part of the ongoing design process, proposals are being developed to review and reduce speed limits within the town centre and on the approaches to the town, introduce appropriate traffic calming measures and address recommendations from the Transport Infrastructure Ireland road safety inspection. A part 8 planning application for the plan is expected to be lodged in the first quarter of next year.
He was also told the council's road safety officer proposes to discuss the matter with the Gardai at the next Road safety Working Together Group,
Cllr Gilroy was unhappy with the council's response. "It is the same answer to everything that comes under consideration - it will be dealt with in the public realm plan. i am calling for this as a matter of urgency."