Road layout and limited land availability may hamper safe pedestrian crossing works at Laytown station, cllrs told

Councillors have called for urgent action to provide a safe pedestrian crossing at Laytown Train Station, describing the current situation as dangerous and warning that commuters are being forced to “dice with cars” to cross the road.

Fine Gael Cllr Sharon Tolan raised the issue at the October meeting of Laytown-Bettystown Municipal District, calling on Meath County Council to design and deliver a pedestrian and road safety scheme at the station.

Her motion sought a controlled pedestrian crossing along with any necessary footpath, public lighting, traffic-calming and accessibility measures to ensure the safe movement of pedestrians and cyclists accessing the station.

In response, the council said its Transportation Section would investigate options to improve the existing pedestrian crossing at Laytown Train Station, but said the existing urban form and limited land availability presented a number of constraints to implementing a scheme.

The response also noted that the National Transport Authority, through its Park and Ride Development Office, is considering future parking provision at Laytown Station as part of a post-DART+ capacity assessment.

However, Cllr Tolan took issue with the reference to an “existing pedestrian crossing”, saying there was no crossing of the type commuters needed at the location.

“There isn't an existing pedestrian crossing at Laytown Train Station,” she said.

Cllr Tolan described seeing commuters trying to cross the road early in the morning when traffic was at its heaviest, with motorists and buses travelling through the area.

She said pedestrians were effectively forced to “dice with cars” and at points had to move out onto the road before they could see traffic approaching from around the bridge.

“It is an accident waiting to happen,” she warned.

Cllr Tolan said increasing numbers of people were using the train service, while bus passengers were also dropped on the opposite side of the road and had to cross to access the station.

“We have to create something, regardless of anything else that's going on with parking. We have to create a safe crossing point for people at that place,” she said.

She also highlighted children and young people accessing the nearby basketball court and commuters returning from Dublin who must navigate the area after dark.

“It's such a dangerous spot and it's such a busy spot,” she said, describing the train station as an extremely important facility for the area.

Independent Cllr Carol Lennon supported the motion and said she had recently sought a stop-go traffic light system at the railway bridge to provide some relief.

She also raised concerns around accessibility, pointing to the large parking areas serving the station and the lack of a safe route from them to the train.

Cllr Lennon said the situation was unacceptable in 2026 and expressed frustration that the same safety concerns continued to return before councillors without being resolved.

Sinn Féin Cllr Maria White also backed the motion, saying she had previously tabled a similar motion concerning accessibility at the station.

She said people with mobility issues continued to face serious difficulties getting from the car park to the station and described visibility in the area during darkness as “impossible”.

Cllr White also strongly challenged the council's description of an existing pedestrian crossing, saying what was being referred to was some distance from where commuters actually needed to cross.

“I find that extremely insulting to our community,” she said of the response.

A council official clarified that an informal pedestrian crossing does exist at the location, with dropped kerbs and tactile paving, and said that technically the written response was correct.

Cllr White responded that referring to it simply as a pedestrian crossing was confusing, saying a member of the public would expect that description to mean something clearly identifiable as a crossing.

The council official acknowledged councillors' concerns and said there were different levels of crossing provision, from informal arrangements to controlled crossings.

The official also identified an inadequately wide footpath as an issue which could potentially be addressed, and undertook to bring the matter back to the Transportation Section to establish what could be done in the short term while a broader solution for the area is considered.

Cllr Lennon said the level of frustration reflected the fact that the matter had been raised numerous times without what councillors considered an adequate response.

The motion received the support of councillors.