A woman was "blown into the hedge by a HGV", a meeting heard this week

A woman was "blown into the hedge by a HGV", a meeting heard this week when Cllr Irene Guckian Rabbitte asked for the construction of an off-road walkway to allow residents along the R299 to "commute safely into Drumsna Village" saying that "with the increased volume of HGVs, because they are being redirected to go back down through that road up to Drumsna, it has become hazardous to commute to the village by walking or cycling".

She said that recently she was made aware that a woman was walking along the road and "was literally blown into the hedge by a lorry passing her by by the air hitting her afterwards. Another lady had another near miss where a log fell off a log truck and there have been many others."

She continued that due to a straight stretch at Lismoyle, "it's an opportunity for some people to overtake so locals are very nervous about coming out onto that road. They are finding that they can't walk or cycle anymore; they've given up because there have been so many incidents."

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She said that a "walkway from Drumsna out to the L7418/L7424 would be desirable" suggesting it be "linked into maybe a blueway or greenway around Drumsna and back to Carrick-on-Shannon; that it would all link up."

Cllr Guckian Rabbitte said that the locals are "quite annoyed that HGVs were redirected seemingly without their input and are concerned about their own safety and the safety of their children and traffic on the road."

She said that a dog ended up under another vehicle on another occasion and that people are "finding it harder and harder to come out onto the road safely and this is being made worse by people overtaking on the straight stretch." 

The official response stated that funding streams available for new walking and cycling routes comes from the National Transport Authority under the active Travel Investment programme. However, this is for new infrastructure within the urban speed limits and therefore this proposed off-road walkway would not meet the criteria for Active Travel funding. 

District engineer Emma Donohoe continued that for Outdoor Recreation Infrastructure Scheme (ORIS) funding, "you have to link to an existing recreation amenity or forest park or some sort of greenway so I don't see any possibility of funding to even consider this at this stage."

Cllr Guckian Rabbitte responded that she was aware of a walkway between Drumlish and Ballinamuck Road that is "tucked in off the road so pedestrians and cyclists are not up against traffic all the time; that is what I had in mind; whether it could be done or not under some scheme."

Cllr Sean McGowan commented that the scheme referred to "is a great scheme and very well used. It's a distance of 4 or 5km."

Cllr Guckian Rabbitte added that she would link to see "a greenway or blueway linked up" with Ms Donohoe saying "it's unlikely."

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Chairperson Maeve Reynolds asked if would be possible to install a greyway along a road with a 80km/h speed limit with Ms Donohue saying there "has to be segregation between traffic and vulnerable road users; you can't just put it right up against the road once outside the 60km/h speed limit. "

Cllr Reynolds said that another obstacle could be landowners having to agree to the project. 

She conceded that it is "a very busy road for pedestrians and cyclists" with Ms Donohoe saying that signage could be erected to "warn of walkers on the road". 

Cllr Reynolds asked if a road safety measure such as rumble strips could be implemented at the location, especially where "people do pass on a solid white line".