Road woes for walkers, motorists

The Diary has been down this road before. Literally.

It's the Sunnyhill Road, recently described as a 'natural bypass' for traffic trying to avoid Kilcullen. And also as a popular walking road for Kilcullen residents.

Your editor is one of the latter. And I am well aware of the difficulties in safely combining both situations.

My understanding is that there's a local proposal that the speed limit on the road be reduced to 60 km/h. As a walker, and as a professional motoring writer, I agree with that. No part of the road is safe for either motorist or walker at the current 80 km/h.

I have other concerns, though.

The road surface conditions, for instance. Most of the road is well-surfaced, much of it done in the last 12 months. But I cannot understand why a 500-metre section from the Curragh Road, and a much shorter but critical section where it opens onto the Athy Road, have not been properly surfaced for a number of years.

In both cases, resurfacing was done to a certain point, and then stopped.



At the Curragh Road end, I presume the developers of the various Castlemartin estates have been charged big levies to provide and repair the particular poor section of road, and maybe even have a footpath continued from that which they have built along the Curragh Road section itself, at least as far as Cnoc na Greine? So, long after the estates have been occupied, why hasn't Kildare County Council carried out such work?

Just now, apart from the safety aspect of having to negotiate their way around potholes and puddles, both motorists and pedestrians have no choice but to share the same road space.



Equally, at the Athy Road end, a short stretch which links the good surface with the main road is, quite simply, in a disgraceful condition. And an unsafe one, where traffic has to sometimes scrabble on a hill waiting to exit onto the main road.



A query about this from the Diary at the time of the resurfacing last year went without an answer beyond being told the question had been passed to the 'relevant' section.



Meantime, let us look at the short distance between the Cnoc na Greine entrance and the motorway bridge up the road. What is the logic in requiring a developer to provide a footpath of regular width to curve onto the road, and then have it peter out into a narrow path to the bridge?



I long ago wrote about the daft 'footpaths' on the bridge itself, which are not wide enough to walk on, let alone wheel a buggy. I've since discovered, in conversation with a (non-council) engineer, that they are not designed as footpaths at all, but are there to protect the bridge fencing from contact by traffic.

I still think that the provision of a wider footpath, at least on one side, would be an excellent way of traffic calming on the bridge, at a quite critical section of the road. But I don't think anyone with responsibility is listening. Certainly, nobody in such position is answering.



Another thought, which I must credit to a recent comment at a Kilcullen Community Action meeting, is that a boardwalk outside the existing bridge fence, on one side, might be a way of making it pedestrian and buggy friendly.

I reckon that has two chances of getting even a consideration ...

Anyway, now that the early morning light is coming that bit earlier, and the evening light lasting somewhat longer, more of us are going to be using Sunnyhill Road to keep in shape. As urged to do in the 'Sli na Slainte' programme supported by our local authority.

Same local authority, can you please have a look at making it safer, both for walkers and motorists? As former, we don't like to be hit. And as latter, we really don't want to hit anybody.

Brian Byrne.