Technical assessment to be carried out on roundabout at rear of Newbridge College

Kildare County Council is to carry out a technical assessment on the roundabout at the rear of Newbridge College, following safety concerns raised by a Fianna Fáil councillor.

Cllr Noel Heavey raised his motion at a meeting of Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District on Wednesday, December 18 2024.

Cllr Heavey's motion asked: 'That the council brings forward proposals to make safer the roundabout at the back of Newbridge College, ie to make clear to all motorists the right of way at this busy roundabout.'

Speaking at the meeting, Cllr Heavey said the roundabout at the back of Newbridge College is “a very busy little junction.”

The location, he said, is used for church services and for students to go to the local shop, with traffic coming from “all sorts of places.”

Accepting the council's report, he said “hopefully it will translate into action.”

A council official told the committee that while Cllr Heavey's motion was requesting the council to make safe the roundabout in question, it was the responsibility of motorists to follow the rules of the road and to yield right-of-way on a roundabout.

Putting more signs at the roundabout would just make it “busier” and “hard to navigate”, she said.

Also speaking at the meeting, Cllr Tom McDonnell (IND) said the area was prone to many “near misses”, with traffic coming up the road “flying.”

Supporting the motion “in principle”, Cllr Chris Pender (SD) said he believed this was a very dangerous junction, and he would question whether it should be a roundabout “at all.”

“It's more of a T-junction than a roundabout”, he said.

While he supported the motion, he said, he would question whether informing people about “who has the right-of-way” is “the best response”, and if completely reassessing the junction would be a better response.

A report issued by the council stated: 'The Municipal District office agree to carry out a technical assessment on the roundabout at the back of Newbridge College. All works are subject to budget and staff availability.'