IN the absence of any immediate action from Transport Infrastructure Ireland to alleviate the danger at a treacherous traffic junction in Killarney, the least that can be done in the interim is to erect signs advising the public to exercise caution, it has been suggested.
Mayor of Killarney, Cllr Niall Kelleher, has called for signage to be placed at the junction linking Lewis Road with the Killarney Bypass to highlight the fact that it is one of the country’s most notorious accident blackspots.
He will raise the issue at a meeting of the Killarney Municipal District Council this Wednesday but public patience is running thin with no action reported to upgrade the junction which has been the scene of several accidents, some fatal.
It emerged last November that Transport Infrastructure Ireland – the authority that approves and funds major roads projects in the country – confirmed that it would finance the planning and design process for an appropriate solution at the junction.
Kerry County Council’s Roads Design Office in Castleisland was informed that funding had been made available and the planning and design work was expected to commence as a matter of priority.
The campaign for safety at the junction – spearheaded and repeatedly highlighted by KillarneyToday.com – reached an important stage when Mayor Kelleher, hand delivered a petition to the offices of Transport Minister, Shane Ross, and to the headquarters of Transport Infrastructure Ireland.
He was accompanied on the trip to Dublin late last year by Killarney woman, Suzanne Dennehy whose sister, Annette Mannix, lost her life in a tragic collision at the junction last May.
They delivered a petition containing over 5,000 signatures and demanded immediate action to prevent more lives being lost.
TII – which has overall responsibility for the design and funding of any works sanctioned – had requested traffic data reports from the council and the documents were collected, processed and submitted, as requested.
The next step was for the TII and the council to agree the scope of works required and to seek funding and Mayor Kelleher will ask for an update on the status of that project at Wednesday’s meeting.
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