Safety design for Thompson's Cross 'in development' - Council

A long-awaited design to improve road safety at Thompson's Cross will be finalised in the first quarter of 2026, according to Kildare County Council, writes Brian Byrne. The matter was raised again by way of a question from Cllr Tracey O'Dwyer at the recent meeting of the Kildare-Newbridge MD, to which officials replied that the design 'is being developed'.

Last December, the councillor was informed that six options had been identified to make the junction safer, but that there were 'no design resources' to progress any of them.

The junction has been dangerous for many years, since the realignment of local roads with the completion of the M9 in the Kilcullen area. Given the long history of crashes there, attempts to make the intersection safer have failed and are widely considered '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 with the local Garda to ensure something substantial is done. In February of last year, Kildare County Council announced that a consultant would be appointed to investigate how best to address the dangerous nature of the junction ... along with nine others in the county.

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