A PETITION pleading for action to be taken at a notorious accident blackspot in Killarney was taken up at the removal service for the latest victim to lose her life on the road.
Annette Mannix, from St Brendan’s Place, Killarney, died after her bicycle was in a collision with a tractor pulling agricultural equipment on the busy Killarney bypass road shortly after 7.00pm last Wednesday.
Annette, a popular single woman in her 40s, was pronounced dead at the scene and it plunged the town into mourning for such a much-loved, caring and gentle woman who had worked as an office manager in a number of local businesses before becoming her mother’s full-time carer.
At the removal service in O’Shea’s Funeral Home on Saturday evening, mourners signed a petition requesting the authorities to take action at the dangerous junction on the bypass which is one of the worst blackspots in the county.
And at Annette’s Requiem Mass in St Mary’s Cathedral on Sunday morning, celebrant, Fr Jim Lenihan, noted how vulnerable cyclists are and he urged those who plan and design the roads to be more aware of the need for cycle paths.
“I pray it will bring change and that Annette’s death will not be in vain,” he said.
The bypass junction, which turns into Lewis Road on one side and towards Kilcummin on the other, has been the scene of numerous accidents – a number of them fatal – over the years and frustrated residents and motorists have been campaigning for action for years. The aerial images featured in this report, courtesy of photographer Eamonn Keogh, show just how dangerous the bypass can be for vehicles or cyclists attempting to gain access to or from the main road.
Kerry County Council has not been found wanting in terms of raising the matter and while the local authority has made repeated representations to the national authorities seeking a solution, nothing has yet been forthcoming.
A request for action was sent to Transport Infrastructure Ireland – the body that makes decisions on road works and designs – and the matter has been raised repeatedly by concerned councillors at Killarney Municipal District level.
The problem is compounded by the fact that the main Killarney-Tralee railway line runs immediately beneath a section of the road at its busiest junction, very close to where the latest accident happened.
Just last month members of the Killarney Municipal District passed a motion to seek an immediate meeting with Transport Minister, Shane Ross, and his officials to discuss their worries about the road.
It was claimed at that meeting that at least one collision every fortnight occurs on the bypass road.
Mayor of Killarney, Cllr Brendan Cronin, maintained that the bottom line was that the decision makers at national level are just not listening to Killarney’s appeals.
“It’s absolutely lethal. People are taking chances there all the time,” said the mayor who added that a neighbour of his own was killed at the junction and her husband was seriously injured some years back.
KillarneyToday.com: It’s the talk of the town
