Residents fear fatalities on 'lethal bend'

Residents living on a notorious stretch of the N51 road at Causestown, Athboy, have warned it is only a matter of time before there is another tragedy at the location.

It has been the scene of two fatalities and countless accidents, some of them involving horrific life changing injuries and in just the last few weeks there have been five accidents on that stretch.

Residents have been warning about the dangerous state of the road for over 20 years and say the only solution is to take out the bends.

“The road is lethal. We live on a bad bend on a hill and there have been so many accidents,” says local resident, Stephen Revington.

“We have been asking the council to do something for so long, but the only solution is to take out the bend. The landowner on either side of the road is very willing to sell the land to do that. If he was ever to decide to sell up, the next owners might not be as co-operative.

“There have been terrible accidents here. There were two fatal accidents and others where people had horrific life altering injuries. It is tragic for the people involved and it is traumatising for the residents here.

“An articulated truck jack-knifed and hit a van, another articulated truck shed its load into our neighbours garden, smashing garden furniture and there have been numerous other incidents.”

“I used to go jogging on that road, but ended up on the bonnet of a car one day, so now I would never go out for a run there again.

“The worst bend is nearly 90 degrees and is on top of a hill. People coming from Delvin who don't know the road are in the most danger. They are up on the bend before they see it.

“We have asked the council to do something. The hedges have been lowered, but that doesn't help because of the hill. They came out last week and put some kind of new surface. I don't know if that will help.

“Lives have been lost, people have been terribly injured and traumatised and we regularly have three or four ambulances, fire engines, squad cars and helicopters rushing here to the scene of accidents,

“The cost of solving the problem would be so much less,” he said.

Kevin Byron Murphy's family narrowly escaped with their lives as few years ago when an articulated truck lost control on the bend and a load of timber crashed into their front garden smashing patio furniture. “If one of us had been out the front, we would have been killed. I wasn't there at the time, but my son was inside the house and it was very traumatic.”

He recalled another occasion when they put up a fence on a Friday and a car had crashed into it by Saturday morning.

“We take our lives in our hands every time we drive away from the house.”

He warned that is was only a matter of time until there was another fatality. “What is so sad, is that if somebody is killed there, then they are likely to react and do something. They should put the resources in now.”

He recalled that when he came to live there in 2002, the local residents were calling for safety measures. “There have been so many accidents since including five in the last few weeks.

“The hedges have been taken out, but it doesn't work. Taking the bend out is the only solution.”

Cllr David Gilroy said there is a series of bad bends in the area.

“There needs to be something done with the sightlines. People have been killed and there have been many other accidents. Drivers come across the bad bend unexpectedly.

“They have cut hedges, but that didn't help. Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) had promised a package of works but nothing has been resolved.”

Cllr Gilroy pointed out considerable safety works had been carried out on the N51 between Navan and Slane but there was no sign of any work on the Athboy Delvin side.

At the October monthly meeting of Kells Municipal Council, Cllr Gilroy called on Meath County Council.

“To prioritise and advance the permanent road safety improvement works on the N51 at Causestown, including the necessary sightline improvements, and take all necessary steps to bring the scheme to construction and completion as a matter of urgency.”

He was told Meath County Council are currently drafting a feasibility and options report for a road safety improvement scheme on the N51 at Causestown which will then be submitted for review/approval by TII. Subject to TII approval the detailed design phase of the scheme can commence.