Fears as regular near misses continue on national Laois road

There will be an accident if road safety measures aren’t taken on the N78 at Crettyard, a council meeting was told. 

Fianna Fail Cllr Padraig Fleming asked for a review of the speed limit at the creamery and filling station on the road. 

He said the issue has been raised numerous times as he tabled a motion on the subject. 

Cllr Fleming asked “that Laois County Council in consultation with T.I.I. (Transport Infrastructure  Ireland) to review the current speeds and road safety measures on the N78 in  Crettyard at the Filling Station and the Creamery. This location has a considerable  number of vehicles entering and exiting these commercial premises within the 100  kms speed limit with a number of near misses reported in recent times.” 

Independent Cllr Aisling Moran said she and Independent Cllr Ben Brennan had also raised the issue previously. 

“There is a petrol station. There is a creamery. There are people coming in and out,” she said. Cllr Moran said the TII should be attending the council meetings and not just looking at the road on a map or on a computer. 

“Let them come down and see. Let them drive into the creamery and drive out of it. Let them drive into the petrol station and then onto these roads and then they will realise it,” she said. 

Independent Cllr Ben Brennan said a farm with 100 cattle which have to cross the road has had to build an underpass because of health and safety. He said there are slow moving vehicles coming out of the petrol station and the creamery. 

“We need a meeting with the TII because there will be an accident there,” said Cllr Brennan. 

He said “because it is such a good road” people regularly break the speed limit.

“TII is doing absolutely nothing about it,” said Cllr Brennan. 

“They press the button and look at it on Google. That’s the biggest disaster ever that Google, everything is Google now. Come down and look at it and forget the Google,” said Cllr Brennan. 

In a written response, A/Director of Services, Paul McLoughlin said: “Laois County Council's Road Design Section will conduct speed and traffic movement surveys at this location along with reviewing both the available accident data and the current  measurers for road safety provision for this location. The findings from the surveys and reviews will be brought to the attention of TII as  required.”

The issue was discussed at the October meeting of Portarlington Graiguecullen Municipal District