New €5m Kildare road set for changes after complaints of trips and falls

Parts of a new €5m route in Naas will be subject to "appropriate measures” - following an independent review of the project.

The project - which created new cycle lanes and footpaths at Kilcullen Road - was criticised by local politicians including Cllr Evie Sammon who previously claimed that the number of accidents had exceeded the six acknowledged by Kildare County Council.

Cllr Sammon said a review by consultants "confirmed what we (the councillors) had been saying" and the cycle lanes needed to be painted red.

Naas mayor Seamie Moore said in November that pedestrians cannot differentiate between the road and the kerb road and “a lot of accidents are happening.” He said different colours need to be used to deal with this problem.

“It’s not working out in a safety sense,” he stated, adding that people are crossing the road in the wrong places.

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Cllr Moore also said it is easy to be wise after the event adding “we weren’t before it.”

Cllr Carmel Kelly said the problems could have been avoided had the councillors been listened to by KCC officials.

At a Naas Municipal District meeting, Cllr Bill Clear said accidents had occurred and some had resulted in “bad injury.”

He added: "It was apparent there was a design flaw.” He said it was a pity that KCC had to go to consultants for it to be reviewed and this represented a cost to the taxpayer.

Cllr Carmel Kelly said the problems could have been avoided had the councillors been listened to by KCC officials and 

That the council provides an update on the review by independent consultants on the

interaction of the public with the Kilcullen Road scheme.

Kildare County Council engineer Dónal Hodgins said KCC has applied to the National Transport Authority (NTA) for money “to support the development of appropriate measures recommended from the independent review.”

“When the extent of funding has been confirmed by the NTA  the designers of the scheme can prepare documents to allow KCC (to seek) appropriate measures for implementation.”

Mr Hodgins said there is “nothing wrong with the scheme per se” and KCC is "looking for improvements” with money from the NTA (to) “make it better for all users.”