Kildare councillors demand action over ‘unsafe’ roads
Fears for schoolchildren walking to and from school
A number of councillors from different political parties have issued calls for Kildare County Council to investigate “unsafe” roads in the Clane-Maynooth Municipal District (MD).
At the most recent MD meeting, Fine Gael (FG) Cllr Tim Durkan asked KCC in his motion to “carry out a review of the road design into Moyglare Hall and Maynooth Education Campus, paying particular attention to pedestrian safety, traffic island location and zebra crossings”.
The motion was seconded by Labour Cllr Angela Feeney.
Cllr Durkan said about the roads: “They are exceptionally busy, especially at times when schoolchildren are heading to and leaving school.
“If we don’t act soon, well, we are going to run into trouble,” he added.
A representative for KCC responded that there has to be some responsibility on the part of both drivers and pedestrians in these areas.
They also said that the busy times are very limited timeframes, and there are adequate facilities there, including two pedestrian crossings.
In his response, Cllr Durkan said: “I’d be happy to bring you to the site to see how the buses in particular have to traverse down there.”
He also brought forward another traffic-related motion, this time calling for a capacity analysis on the M4 motorway.
“There is a noisy-triangle area there... whenever it rains, its like a huge echo chamber,” he explained.
“We were promised a number of improvements to this area many, many times... going as far back as 2017.”
In response, an engineer for KCC informed him that there is a consultant at work in the area, but said that it was “too early to make any judgements yet”.
In a separate motion, Independent Cllr Pádraig McEvoy urged KCC to investigate traffic in Clane.
“It’s a step backwards, and its not just bad at peak times,” he added.
Cllr McEvoy’s sentiments were echoed by FG Cllr Brendan Weld and Social Democrats Cllr Aidan Farrelly.
Cllr Farrelly also requested data concerning traffic in Clane from the council.
KCC responded by saying that “there is no funding or resources available to undertake a Clane Town Centre Study”.