Fears for children’s safety at Laois primary school
Safety measures are urgently needed outside Mayo NS near Crettyard. File photo
CHILDREN cannot walk to school along a busy rural road because promised safety measures have not been installed, according to a local councillor.
Cllr Ben Brennan claimed that safety improvements at Mayo NS near Crettyard were “promised earlier this year” but nothing happened.
“A child could get hurt. That’s what it is all about - safety,” he told the latest Graiguecullen-Portarlington municipal district meeting in county hall.
He said: “A child who only lives up the road cannot walk up to the house because of the traffic on the road, yet now we’re told that we have to apply to the department.”
Cllr Brennan insisted that children are at risk walking to and from the small primary school, which is located on the R431 between Crettyard and Tolerton. He said that traffic sped past the school at 80kph and speed radar signs on the road were not working.
The independent councillor asked Laois Co Council “to give a date as to when safety measures will be put in place at Mayo NS, as was promised earlier this year”.
A written response from the council’s road design section said that Mayo NS may need to apply to the relevant government department to be included in the Safe Route to Schools (SRTS) programme. The response added that any interim safety measures would be assessed by the council, after a meeting with Cllr Brennan at the school.
Senior engineer Tom Drennan said he thought that road design staff had already met with Cllr Brennan at the site but that obviously hadn’t happened.
The engineer pointed out that schools themselves have to apply to An Taisce under the SRTS programme, which was introduced by the departments of education and transport but is operated by An Taisce, in partnership with the National Transport Authority (NTA) and local authorities.
Mr Drennan said: “There is no problem in applying, but you won’t get fast results.”
However, the engineer said that interim measures to improve safety outside the school could be assessed in the meantime. He told Cllr Brennan: “I have no problem meeting you at the site. Perhaps there could be some measures in the interim that would increase safety at the school.”
Cllr Brennan also asked for safety improvements in Mayo village, saying that “traffic is not obeying the radar signals” and 80kph on the approach road is still registering on Google Maps.
He said: “St Abban’s AC has about 500 members now, so the traffic is unreal and people can’t get out onto the road because drivers are doing 80kph coming in from Castlecomer. The speed limit in the village itself is 50kph but from the R431 to the regional road it’s 80kph.”
A written reply from the council’s road design section said that staff would arrange a meeting on site with Cllr Brennan, to ‘assess the location from a safety perspective’.
The reply added: ‘Road design have liaised with the contractor and both speed radar signs are operational. All potential measures will be assessed. Speeding at this area is a matter for An Garda Síochána’.
