KILDARE TRANSPORT: "It's pretty disgusting to have to stand there"

Better facilities for bus users are needed along the busy route between Newbridge and Naas.

Two councillors want Kildare County Council to  engage with the National Transport Authority  and other relevant bodies to ensure that active travel measures including pedestrian crossings are installed at all bus stops on the R445, which embraces the Naas-Newbridge -dual carriageway.

Cllr Chris Pender  spoke of the plight of a disabled person who takes the bus to work at the business park along the route.

He said there is a bus stop there but little else in the way of facilities.

He added there is a nursing home in the area.

Cllr Bill Clear

“They have to cross a very busy stretch of road with no support," he said, adding that more facilities are needed if people are to be encouraged to use public transport.

Cllr Bill Clear said that apart from the dangers of crossing the roadway, people sometimes have to stand in the dark and wait for a bus to arrive.

“It’s pretty disgusting to have to stand there,” he said, pointing out that there are 1,500 people working in that location.

Cllr Colm Kenny that another bus stop in the greater Naas area is “up on a grass verge.”

KCC official Celina Barrett told a council meeting that staff are constantly engaging with the RTA about bus stop infrastructure.

She also said the council will contact the NTA about this.

She also said the delivery of active travel measures is dependent on the provision of funding  from the National Transport Agency (NTA) and the appropriateness of pedestrian crossings  in the context of the timescale of other active travel measures being considered which will  determine how projects will be prioritised.”

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