Dundalk's Kelly fears for people's safety at Castletown Cross
Cllr Kelly says better traffic management plan at Castletown Cross ‘essential now’
Cllr Seán Kelly has said that a better traffic management plan at Castletown Cross is "essential now" and has called on Louth County Council to install traffic lights as well as other safety measures.
Cllr Kelly's motion at the Dundalk Municipal District called on Louth County Council to "install a set of traffic lights at the Castletown Cross junction on completion of the ongoing roadworks. This junction is particularly busy with poor sight lines from both Mount Avenue and Mill Road.
"With increased traffic in area due to the new road layout and presence of two secondary schools nearby, the safety of residents and road users should be priority, and the existing junction layout is not sufficient to ensure that safety."
Replying to Cllr Kelly's motion, Director of Placemaking & Physical Development, Mr David Jones, said that "Traffic and Transport Assessments (TTAs) are required for development as part of future planning permissions which intend to utilize this section of road and will determine if upgrade works such as traffic lights are required.
"Previous planning permission have undertaken these assessments and found that the junction will continue to operate well within capacity in the design year, taking into account background growth. Please note that, as per the description within the Part 8 for the scheme, when the proposed Castleblayney Road to Carrickmacross Road Link road is constructed, with its link to the Mount Avenue Scheme in place, it is the intention to close off this section of the Mount Avenue Rd to the Castleblayney Rd, leaving local access only."
Commenting on the response from Louth County Council, Cllr Kelly said that "here we have an extremely dangerous junction with poor visibility sight lines that force you to drive out onto road to see if cars are coming up the hill from town. On top of this we have two secondary schools with 1500 students at drop off and pick up times where cars are parked everywhere further reducing sight lines.
"Add to this further two new housing developments with 180 units on Mount Avenue and more planned and this junction is a disaster waiting to happen. The Council saying they will wait until works are completed and houses built to see if it merits a change makes no sense.
"The junction is not safe at present – we are placing more pressure on it. We need to address it now. These plans were drawn up in 2006/2007. We are in a completely different space now and this junction has been a bone of contention and concern for local residents and road users for years, why not use the opportunity now to fix the problem."