Ramps in Laois village like 'the Berlin Wall'

STEEP road safety ramps in a Laois village were compared to the Berlin Wall at a council meeting.

Cllr Paddy Buggy made the unlikely comparison in county hall, during a debate on serious traffic safety issues on the Crookedy Road in Ballytegan, Portlaoise.

The aptly named road, which has a series of severe bends, links the Ridge Road to the main N80 Mountmellick Road near Fairgreen.

Seeking traffic calming solutions, Cllr Buggy said: “I’d ask that the measures are not as severe as were put into Emo. The measures there are extremely severe. I'm not against speed ramps, but there’s speed ramps and there’s the Berlin Wall.” 

At the September meeting of Portlaoise Municipal District Council (MDC), Cllr Buggy said the situation in Ballytegan is unusual, as the road is rural but is used by a lot of urban traffic. He said: “It is similar to what happened on the Meelick road, where a solution was put in.” 

He proposed that the council ‘investigate how traffic calming measures can be implemented within a 60km zone in a rural setting’ at Ballytegan, taking into account that ‘the rural road is part of an urban road network, in particular the L2115 Crookedy Road, in a similar fashion to the L6310 in Meelick’.

In a written reply, acting director of services for roads Adrian Barrett said that that the council’s Strategic Policy Committee (SPC) for transport was the appropriate group to develop such a policy for Ballytegan.

Cllr Buggy said he hoped the SPC would develop “a proper policy”, taking into account the fact that agricultural vehicles use the road network in Ballytegan, without imposing the severe traffic calming measures taken in Emo village.

The proposal was supported by Cllr Barry Walsh, who said: “We definitely need a policy on this but all roads are different. Sometimes categorising them as just regional or local is not enough. Some are busier and it can also depend on whether there are schools on them.” 

Cllr Tommy Mulligan said the Crookedy Road must be a priority for safety measures, as traffic has greatly increased on the narrow road that has bad bends and dykes on each side.

Describing the road as “very dangerous”, Cllr Catherine Fitzgerald agreed that safety measures were needed but praised the county council for its “huge work” carrying out drainage improvements in recent weeks.

Meanwhile, in a separate proposal, Cllr Mulligan asked for paint markings and signage in the Ballytegan area on the Ridge Road, ‘to help deter speeding and enhance road safety’.

Cllr Mulligan said there is “a huge volume of traffic” on the Ballytegan section of the Ridge Road, as drivers use it “as a shortcut through Crookedy”.

He said: “It has got to the stage now where people are afraid of leaving their houses, as there are cars speeding on both sides and it’s only a matter of time before there is a serious accident.” 

He was supported by Cllr Caroline Dwane Stanley, who said the junction with the Crookedy Road had been highlighted for years in the council chamber.

Both Cllr Dwane Stanley and Cllr Marie Tuohy agreed that many drivers use the Crookedy Road as a shortcut, particularly on Friday evenings and during big events such as Electric Picnic.

Cllr Tuohy said: “A lot of it is driver behaviour. I lost a wing mirror on it myself because of speeding”, before quickly adding that she wasn’t speeding herself, after some good-natured jibes from fellow councillors.

Cllr Fitzgerald said it was “crazy” that the council had not improved road safety in the area, given a huge increase in population.

In response to the proposal, senior engineer Wes Wilkinson said he would meet Cllr Mulligan on site, ‘to examine priority areas on the L2120 Ridge Road, with a view to examining locations for additional road markings and signage’.