Dundalk councillors call for traffic lights at Dublin Road junction after serious accidents
Councillor Shane McGuinness urged urgent safety measures
The recent accident at Sexton’s junction on the R132 in Dundalk in which a man and woman were taken to hospital was highlighted by Fianna Fail councillor Shane McGuinness at this month’s meeting of Dundalk Municipal District.
Councillor McGuinness expressed frustration with the lack of traffic calming measures on the stretch of road.
“That was the second serious accident in ten days, and I met with the Gardai and they’re telling me that there’s now two accidents there a week, so it’s possibly one of the most dangerous junctions in Louth,” he told the meeting.
“There’s a number of things we have to look at. We have to look at how we prioritise [the installation of] traffic lights. We should be prioritising it based on risk, certainly based on risk more so than whatever other reason we would base it on.
“I know there is an Active Travel Programme, I just don’t know whether we’re going to be able to wait two or three years. Again, how do we prioritise which Active Travel Programme should go first? That’s a question I would like to ask.
“I have spoken to David Jones [Director of Major Capital Projects & Infrastructure Delivery at the council] and he is meeting me this week and the Gardai also want to meet with us to discuss…but it’s a serious situation and the question on everybody’s lips in a massively built up area is why do we keep building houses when we’re not building infrastructure alongside? It’s a simple question; it’s just very difficult to get an answer.
“I wish the people who were involved in the accident a speedy recovery and I hope we can get something in place to put the traffic lights into the Active Travel Program which were not in the first draft, and it was a bit of a fight to get them into the second draft and I believe there in there now but I’ve let to see a drawing and it would be great if I could get a look at that.
Executive Engineer with the council Patrick Callan said that the junction fell under the Active Travel Programme and there is an upgrade of the junction planned in the drawings.
He said he would have to confirm timelines and see when it was proposed to start work.