LIVES are being put at risk on a daily basis because of restrictions on traffic safety measures at dangerous road crossings.
So say Limerick councillors, John Gilligan and Kieran O’Hanlon, who, on their visits to various estates, are listening to calls for road safety measures such as pedestrian crossings and speed ramps.
Two areas that are a cause for concern are Clare Street and Corbally Road.
Following a fatality on Clare Street some months ago, Cllrs Gilligan and O”Hanlon asked council to instal a pedestrian crossing on the Abbey Bridge roundabout .
However, nothing has happened, with residents claiming they are still having to take their lives in their hands to cross that section of Clare Street, just up from the roundabout.
Said O’Hanlon: “It’s a lethal part of the road to cross and especially so for the older people, many of whom are not able to make a sudden dash when there’s a small break in the traffic flow, to get them across.
“This also presents a problem to people going out or coming from the Park Canal. Here we are, encouraging people to take exercise and utilise the canal and riverside amenities but, believe me, trying to get across the road on Clare Street is a huge deterrent to anyone heading out or returning from a walk”.
Referring to the “fierce speeding” that is a regular feature on Corbally Road,’ Cllr O’Hanlon said he understands City Hall’s reservations about installing speed ramps on a main road.
“I’ve been told by residents that many of them, rather than cross the road to get the bus into town, get onto it at the other side and travel on it out to Westbury where it turns, for the return journey back into the city centre.
‘I’ve been getting the “subject to funding” line for delays in implementing safety measures but this is not good enough – where we have a Roads Programme in place, it should be aimed at areas more seriously affected, especially city centre roads”.
City Hall told this newspaper that the council’s Transportation Department is “looking into the issues and has a plan in place for Clare Street”.
