New pedestrian crossing is needed near Naas Hospital, Kildare
Safety
A call has been made for a controlled pedestrian crossing - one which is activated by pushing a button to halt passing traffic - near Naas General Hospital.
Naas Councillor Colm Kenny said the crossing is needed especially for people going to the hospital who may be visiting seriously ill or terminally ill relatives.
“People visiting the hospital are not always in the same frame of mind as other people visiting the area,” he told a Naas Municipal District meeting.
Cllr Kenny said the crossing should be provided on Craddockstown Road at the raised table crossing point linking Fairgreen and the Ballymore Road lakes area.
He pointed out that an increasing number of vulnerable road users and elderly pedestrians walk to the hospital and exercise around the lakes.
Cllr Kenny has asked Kildare County Council to write to the NTA seeking funding for a pilot “Safe Routes to Healthcare” scheme which would be similar to the “Safe Routes to School initiative, which is being rolled out nationwide with Scoil an Linbh Íosa, Ballycane, Naas, among the first in Kildare to be included.
“Naas is unique because of the close proximity of the hospital, the community care offices in St Marys and a primary healthcare centre with an out-of-hours service. As a healthcare worker I recognise that people attending these different facilities as patients, service users or visitors are often distracted or even distressed and not always in a good frame of mind because of health concerns for themselves or their loved ones,” said Cllr Kenny.
Therefore health facility attendees are vulnerable road users and should be regarded as somewhat similar to children en route to schools
However Kildare County Council has no plans or funding to modify the crossing point to a controlled crossing point.
KCC official Pam Pender indicated that this would be reviewed along with a number of other locations this year “to consider whether a controlled crossing point is warranted.”