THE NEAR death experience of a well-known Limerick businessman after a car ploughed into his bike and then sped off, has prompted a local community activist to put pressure on to have the Coonagh roundabout made safer.
Fianna Fail spokesman in the area, Joe Crowley, said there will be a fatality at the roundabout if something isn’t done.
“Cars come on it at such speed, completely oblivious that there is a slip road. They just don’t see traffic coming off that road”, he explained.
“After hearing about the hit and run involving the businessman, I contacted Limerick City Council’s traffic department. After a site visit to the roundabout with a council official, he agreed that action will have to be taken”.
“It’s an absolute miracle that the man who was knocked off his bike wasn’t killed. There have been numerous near misses. It’s a death trap. What’s needed is some way of getting the traffic to slow down before it reaches the roundabout.
“Traffic speeds were reduced to 50 kph on the Condell Road after three people were killed there. Motorists are saying they want the speed limit put back up to 60kph. There has to be some way to make the cars go even slower”.
He said that he has spoken to a number of people involved in traffic management and they feel the future is not with roundabouts.
“Lots of local authorities have taken roundabouts away and made situations much safer. The best example is the Red Cow in Dublin. It’s much better now that the roundabout has gone”.
He said he was promised that shrubs would be cut back, some signage would be removed and road markings increased to increase visibility. The work would culminate, in an application for a zebra crossing to be provided at the roundabout.
via Council to tackle Coonagh death trap (303 with quote box) | Limerick Post Newswrite.
