Second entrance at busy Kildare school rejected
Council to meet education body over Piper's Hill in Naas
Kildare County Council officials have rejected a call for a second entrance at the Piper’s Hill school complex in Naas.
At the Naas Municipal District committee on October 20, councillors heard a reply to a request by Cllr Ann Breen that the council provide a second entrance/exit at Piper's Hill school complex to improve safety and traffic flow in the area.
Cllr Evie Sammon has asked the council to engage with stakeholders in the area.
In a written reply, the council said it has no plans to provide a second entrance/exit at the Piper's Hill school complex.
It said that from “our analysis the main signalised access point to the school complex provides a safe access for all road users where parents can drop off and collect their children in a safe manner within the school complex.”
The reply did add, however, that “it does accept that there is queuing of traffic at peak times in the morning and afternoon but outside of this the main signalised access point works well within capacity.
The council concluded: “The Roads Planning Section is examining the Traffic Study and Analysis of the School Complex that was carried out by Aecom Consulting Engineers on behalf of the Kildare Wicklow Education Training Board (KWETB) where the existing traffic movements and flows and safety issues were examined and proposals to improve the traffic movements and flows and safety for all road users were submitted. Kildare County Council is proposing to discuss this matter further in the near future with the KWETB.”
Cllr Breen was unable to attend the meeting but Cllr Sammon said she was “not really happy” with the reply. “There have been a lot of near misses and there was another near miss this morning,” she said.
Cllr Sammon said the council granted planning permission for the project. “We need some sort of solution,” she said.
She also said more houses are being built in the area.
Cllr Carmel Kelly asked what “near future” meant in the reply.
Cllr Bill Clear said there has been a big uptake in cycling in the area and suggested they could provide a cycle path behind the gaelscoil or have a separate bicycle entrance for the KWETB.