Six options identified for Thompson's Cross - but 'no design resources'
Six options have been identified to make the Thompson's Cross junction safer, writes Brian Byrne. However, lack of resources in Kildare County Council means that necessary further design work can't be progressed. Cllr Tracey was informed of this at the December meeting of the Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District, where officials said the results of a feasibility and options report on the intersection will be reviewed by the Council 'in due course'.
The report to her motion seeking detail of the survey results said the Roads Project Team are managing several large capital projects at present which are at a critical phase, and the lack of 'internal resources' is unfortunate.
Responding, Cllr O'Dwyer said she still hadn't got the answers she's looking for and asked why details of the completed survey project have not been shared with members? "I'd like to see this shared before any further design work is carried out," she said.
The junction has been dangerous for many years, since the realignment of local roads with the completion of the M9 in the Kilcullen area. With a long history of crashes there since then, attempts to make the intersection safer have failed and are widely considered to have been 'tinkering' with the problem. The last of these, carried out under the Low Cost Safety Improvement Scheme in 2016, included a controversial removal of a run-off lane on the turn towards Kilgowan. In October 2017, Council engineers told councillors that issues raised at works in 2016 had 'been resolved'.
Cllr O'Dwyer has been working in association with local Garda to try and have something substantial done. In February of last year, Kildare County Council announced that a consultant would be appointed to investigate how to best deal with the dangerous nature of the junction — along with nine others in the county. Clandillon Consulting Engineers were appointed earlier this year to carry out the survey work and make recommendations.
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