FURIOUS residents and businesses on Killarney’s Muckross Road, who are objecting to ongoing road narrowing works in the area, have insisted they will not stand idly by and allow their safety to be put at risk.
And they have told local authority officials: “Enough is enough”.
They say their concerns that emergency service vehicles will not be able to negotiate the area in heavy traffic if the works proceed have not been properly addressed by the authorities.
As reported earlier by KillarneyToday, Kerry County Council said a solution could be to raise the level of the newly laid road surface and reduce the pavement height to allow vehicles to mount the kerb to let emergency vehicles pass.
But residents who gathered for a public meeting to discuss the crux laughed off that proposal, saying a situation should not be put in place that encourages vehicles to drive on to footpaths in the interests of safety.
The residents and businesses have now formed a committee to lobby for a temporary halt to roadworks until proper consultation can take place.
Kerry County Council said the need for a traffic calming scheme was identified in a national survey of accident locations by Transport infrastructure Ireland – formerly the NRA – but locals insist they were not consulted and a small notice of intention in a local newspaper was not sufficient.
Kerry County Council’s argues that the traffic calming scheme has been designed to national standards and all statutory procedures in relation to consultation were carried out prior to the plan being approved by the council.
At the pubic meeting, attended by an estimated 250 people, it was decided to fight the road narrowing plan until safety issues are properly addressed.
