A New Year but the same old problems on Dundalk’s roads

It’s a New Year but the same old problems exist with roads around the town.

For too long many of them have been in a bad state of repair with the council none too eager to rectify the situation it seems.

Despite yesterday’s news that €1.4m is going to be spent repairing roads and footpaths throughout Dundalk and North Louth, the pothole problem is much greater.

Perhaps the biggest example of the council’s ignorance comes with the left-hand turn onto the Ramparts off the St Alphonsus Road, heading towards the Fire Station.

Despite being almost directly opposite the council’s headquarters, a pothole has remained intact for the best part of a year. This corner is very difficult to negotiate without hitting it and can lead to cars crossing the white line on the opposite site of the road in order to do so.

Of course, that’s not the only problem. Despite being one of the main routes into Dundalk Garda Station, the road at the top of Stapleton Place is becoming nothing short of a disgrace and one can almost liken it to driving on the moon.

Opposite Glen Gat House has been a problem for some time but since the single lane of traffic here was implemented to accommodate a virtually disused cycle lane, it simply cannot cope with the additional load.

Many estates too are also not without their problems and a pot hole similar to the one on the St Alphonsus Road has been in existence for some time at the entrance to Greenacres.

The number of floods in our estates of late suggest that bigger problems may lie ahead due to the council’s failure to both keep road surfaces in an adequate state and to clear drains.

We ask is it good enough? The likely answer is no!

Ardee Road reopens to traffic

The scene at the Ardee Road on Sunday. Picture courtesy of Marko’s Pizza, Clanbrassil Street, Dundalk

The Ardee Road reopened to traffic.

The road – the N52/R171 – had been closed since the weekend due to heavy flooding in the Mounthamilton area.

It resulted in a substantial loss of business for a number of outlets, including Paddy Clarke’s Texaco filling station.

A number of residents along the road are still dealing with excess water on their properties but the fact the road has reopened should alleviate some of the traffic problems that the town has been experiencing in recent days.

Local residents to appeal decision to grant planning permission for new school at the Marist

An artist’s impression of what the new St Mary’s College school would look like

Residents in the vicinity of St Mary’s Road are set to lodge an appeal with An Bord Pleanala in the coming days following Dundalk Town Council’s decision to grant planning permission for a new school at St Mary’s College.

The go-ahead for the new two storey building was granted last week subject to 41 conditions.

However, residents remain concerned about a range of issues including the possibility of flooding, traffic congestion and the future use of the buildings that are currently used by the school.

The new school will include 50 classrooms, a PE and General Purpose Hall, canteen and sporting facilities and will be built on the grounds of the existing school.

However, residents have confirmed they will take the matter to An Bord Pleanala to appeal Dundalk Town Council’s decision to give the project the go ahead.

That will mean that no matter what the project will be delayed for some time while a decision on the appeal is made.

Meenan looks at safer parking solutions at Gaelscoil

Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan in Muirhevnamor

Sinn Féin’s Cllr Kevin Meenan has called on Dundalk Town Council to come up with safer parking solutions at Gaelscoil Dhun Dealgan in Muirhevnamor.

The all-Irish school is popular with pupils and parents from all over the area because of its specialised nature. That leads to a large number of cars forming in the estate when students are entering and leaving the school. That, coupled with the natural traffic flow of the estate, leads to huge vehicular traffic in that part of Muirhevnamor at key times of the day.

Parents have become concerned about the number of cars that their children having to walk through to get collected from school and have asked Cllr Meenan to look at ways of dealing with the problem before an accident occurs.

He told LMFM that a number of parents had been on to him about the problem. He said he would now talk to council engineers to look at safer parking solutions near to the school. He has already met with the school’s principal and is welcoming further feedback from the public after claiming there were a number of “near misses” in recent times.

Fears over traffic lights at the Dundalk’s Market Square played down

Dundalk’s Market Square

Fears that traffic lights were set to return to Dundalk’s Market Square last week have been played down somewhat.

Various reports over the last 24 hours suggested that lights were set to be installed at the Square from next Monday due to traffic congestion.

The news was broken by local Sinn Féin councillor Jennifer Green, who said that installing lights would be a “disaster”.

However, following further consultation with the Town Engineer, this morning Cllr Green – who will run in May’s local elections – said that it was pelican crossing lights, similar to the ones at Clarke Railway Station, rather than traffic lights that were being installed.

In a statement to Talk of the Town, Cllr Green said: “It was presumed that when the Town Engineer said that the lights are to go back up at the Market Square she meant traffic lights as I challenged her in a Town Council Monthly meeting saying that there will be outrage in the town if traffic lights go back up.

“However, I rang the engineering department this morning to confirm when the lights were going up and was told that the current zebra crossing beacon lights at the Market Square will be replaced by pelican crossing lights (very simular to the ones up at the train station). So currently there is no plans for ‘traffic lights’ to go back on the square….phew!

“The programme of works for the change of zebra lights to pelican are seceduled for next week although the contractor has still other works to finish so the Town Council can’t give me an exact date for commencement.”

There have been no traffic lights at the Market Square since the area was revamped in late 2011 at a cost of €3m.

Motorists warned to expect checkpoints on motorways over festive period

Local motorists are being warned to expect checkpoints on the M1 motorway in and around the festive period.

Gardaí yesterday announced plans to place so-called ‘super checkpoints’ on Irish motorways in the coming weeks in a bid to snare dangerous drivers and criminal gangs.

The plans were announced yesterday at the launch of the Garda Christmas Enforcement campaign.

The first checkpoint took place on the M1 yesterday, with several hundred cars stopped and one person arrested for drink driving.

The main objective of this operation is to increase the awareness of fatal and serious injury road traffic collisions.

However gardaí have also revealed that they will be targeting crime gangs who use the network as getaway routes.

Assistant Commissioner John Twomey said that by policing motorway routes leading to and from high residential areas gardaí will be denying criminals unchallenged use of the motorway network.

Speaking at a checkpoint on the M1, Assistant Commissioner Twomey said: “The tragic fact is that 177 people won’t get the opportunity to sit down and enjoy the Christmas festivities with family and friends this year.

“The vast majority of fatal road traffic incidents are caused by human error, something that someone does or fails to do.

“Last month alone, 677 drivers were arrested for driving under the influence of an intoxicant. In this day and age it is totally unacceptable that 677 people made that decision to drink and drive.”

To date in 2013 over 400,000 drivers have been breath tested and whilst the vast majority are compliant and fit to drive, over 7,200 drivers were caught.

In addition to enforcement activity, there will be a number of safety initiatives targeting vulnerable road users, including the distribution of nearly 30,000 items of RSA hi viz material to pedestrians and cyclists nationwide (currently ongoing).

Commissioner Twomey added: ”We specifically ask all pedestrians to make sure they are visible when out walking, especially in rural or poorly lit areas.

“Furthermore, if out socialising, plan a safe way to get home and make sure you are fit to walk if you have consumed alcohol.

“Drivers also need to be extra vigilant and watch out for pedestrians.”

Alright, alright, calm down, calm down

Further traffic calming measures are being proposed to tackle speeding motorists close to two secondary schools in Dundalk.

Councillors have been told that some motorists were caught travelling at speeds of up to 135km-per-hour on the Castleblayney approach to the town close to the De La Salle and Dun Lughaidh secondary schools.

It’s now being recommended that a design be drawn up and funding sought for further traffic calming measures, along with a length of footpath on the southern side of the road, from the petrol station to Grey Acre Road – and road markings to visually reduce the width of the carriageway.