Progress is needed for busy area within the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District, councillor says
A Sinn Féin councillor stressed that progress is needed at a busy region located within the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District (MD).
Cllr Noel Connolly made the comments at the latest MD meeting, which was held on Wednesday, July 19 last.
The meeting was held in the MERITS building in Naas.
Cllr Connolly put forward the following motion before Kildare County Council (KCC): "That the council investigate the provision of a left-hand filter route on the Green Road/Langton Road Junction with the R445 at McLoughlins Garage; to facilitate the free flow of traffic from the Green Road to the R445, in order to travel towards the M7."
His motion was seconded by Fianna Fáil Cllr Suzanne Doyle.
CONFLICTING WITH POLICY
Responding to Cllr Connolly, a KCC engineer said in their report that increasing the capacity for vehicular traffic at signalised junctions is not supported by the policies set out in national and local documentation.
They elaborated: "In particular, the provision of dedicated left turning lanes for motorised vehicles can lead to an increased risk to vulnerable road users, in particular cyclists, due to the geometric layout of these facilities.
"Furthermore, widening of the carriageway for turning traffic would introduce longer or additional crossing points for pedestrians, which conflicts with the Road User Hierarchy set out by the Department of Transport and National Transport Authority."
However, Cllr Connolly maintained that his suggestion was 'a practical one.'
In addition, he maintained that Cork County Council and Dublin County Council had resolved similar issues.
A number of councillors came to his defence, including Fine Gael Cllr Peggy O’Dwyer and Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender.
'IT IS FRUSTRATING'
Fianna Fáil Cllr and newly elected Cathaoirleach Noel Heavey also remarked that similar issues ‘keep coming up’ at the MD meetings — "It is frustrating," he added.
Expressing disappointment with KCC’s report, the MD councillors decided to hold the matter to a vote, to place the matter on a progress report.
This vote was overwhelmingly successful.
Cllr Heavey also recommended Cllr Connolly to provide examples of the remedies which were employed by Cork County Council and Dublin County Council in resolving the aforementioned issues they faced to the engineer who wrote the report.