RESIDENTS of two county Limerick estates, who have been campaigning for more than 40 years to have a footpath placed between the two areas so that pedestrians and school children can safely walk to the bus, have taken steps to finding their own solution.
Residents from Rich Hill Woods and Grangewood estates took advantage of the ninth annual Team Limerick Clean-Up day, held this past Good Friday, to cut back foliage and clear earth and debris from an area along the Newport Road to allow pedestrians to walk without being on the road itself.
In a recent letter in a long trail of correspondence between the residents and Limerick City and County Council, the local authority agreed to look at the option of keeping the area clear and maintained, saying that the Active Travel department “has submitted a grant application to the NTA for works”.
James Ryan, a resident long involved with the footpath campaign, said that “a great community clean up and hard work in cleaning back the road side by half a metre, allowed school kids and cyclists a critical extra safety space to stand in from the heavy passing trucks and cars”.
The council also had some positive news for the community, including a lighting assessment on the road. The local authority in its correspondence confirmed that it “has submitted a grant application to the NTA for works between Rich Hill Estate and Grangewood”.
An additional speed indicator sign will be installed outside Grangewood Estate and the faded white line outside both estates will be repainted.
The council is also talking to Gardaí about greater deployment of Go Safe speed vans in the area.
“As part of the long term options, Limerick City and County Council Strategy are advancing plans in conjunction with the NTA to implement a Park and Ride facility near Mackey Roundabout as per the Limerick Shannon Metropolitan Area Transport Strategy and will examine all options to facilitate such an objective to be serviced by high frequency public transport services”.
It was stated that the council “will also request that the NTA ensure that any review of the existing Connecting Ireland services on the Newport Road take account of any demand for service from the residential areas represented”.
