Cllr: Rural road in Co. Donegal an 'accident waiting to happen'
Fianna Fáil councillor for Letterkenny, Donal Coyle has said that elderly residents are taking their "lives into their own hands every time they walk out their own gate" given the speed of traffic on a rural road in Co. Donegal.
The councillor told Agriland that he raised the issue of speeding on a rural road in Glenkeeran, on the road to Knockbrack, at a meeting of the Letterkenny - Milford municipal district.
Coyle said: "It's a very busy road from a farming perspective, it's a road with lots of dips on it. The speed on it is just horrendous.
"There have been quite a lot of accidents on that road, thank God none fatal. There’s also elderly women who live along that road - when they go out as far as the gate, they’re right on the roadside. They’re taking their lives in their hands every time they walk out their own gate."
The Fianna Fáil councillor believes that putting ramps on the road would slow down the speed of traffic.
"I was looking to have ramps put on it, but I was told the council doesn’t put ramps on rural roads. Some people don’t like ramps, but ramps definitely slow down traffic," Coyle said.
"The council did give an undertaking that they would go out to look at the situation and see what traffic calming measures can be put in place," he added.
Cllr Doyle said that in recent weeks, the speed limit on the road in Donegal has been reduced from 80km/h to 60km/h.
He said: "It’s not that long a road, but it happens to be the road that most people use coming from Raphoe coming to and going to Letterkenny. There’s some very serious dips on the road.
"Can you imagine a vehicle coming over a crest at speed, and a farmer trying to cross the road with cattle? It’s an accident ready to happen."
"It was an 80km/h road, it’s now 60km/h but it doesn’t seem to have made any difference. Drivers need to be aware of the speed on the road," Cllr Doyle added.
A spokesperson for Donegal County Council told Agriland: "As this is in a rural area with no public lighting, it is not a suitable or safe location to erect speed ramps. A safety assessment can be carried out to establish if any other measures would be feasible.”
