Speeding at Nicholastown 'beyond a joke' - councillor
A lack of funding to alleviate two serious danger issues in Kilcullen is the reason given by Kildare County Council for not being able to deal with them, writes Brian Byrne.
The matters of speeding by motorists coming in from the Athy Road, and the uneven footpath from Nolan's Butchers to the Credit Union were raised by Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer at yesterday's meeting of the Kildare-Newbridge MD.
The councillor had asked the Council to assess the most suitable and effective traffic calming measures to cut speeding on the road along by Nicholastown and Avondale estates. Officials said the works required are outside the scope of the Low Cost Safety Scheme and a design would need to be carried out by the Planning and Project Team and funding is not in place to do this.
"The speed along this section of road is gone beyond a joke at this stage and I really believe something has to be done to slow vehicles down through this pedestrian area," Cllr O'Dwyer said. "I will continue to work on this project with the Area Engineer's Office."
The response to her request to examine the best option to address the uneven and loose paving stones on the Main Street footpath was that 'the location in question would require a major upgrade', and that there is no budget or funding to consider taking this to a design stage.
The councillor pointed out that this is 'an extremely difficult stretch of path to navigate'. "Cobbles are loose, it is on a hill, the gradient of the path is also highest closet to the businesses and lower along the kerb, so a very difficult path for anyone to walk along, never mind someone trying to access the two GP practices and Chemist which are both located at this particular stretch of path."
