“We don’t want to reward bad behaviour”, says Kildare County Council engineer

An engineer with Kildare County Council (KCC) has told councillors that it does not 'want to reward bad motorist behaviour' in the county.

The comments were made by engineer Donal Hodgins at the latest Kildare-Newbridge Municipal District meeting, which took place on Wednesday, October 19 last.

At the meeting, Sinn Féin Cllr Noel Connolly put forward the following motion to KCC: "That the council reline and/or realign the road markings at the junction ofthe R445 and the R415 to provide proper turning lanes for traffic that is travelling from Monasterevin towards Kildare Village Retail Outlet, and for traffic that is travelling from Kildare Village Retail Outlet and turning towards Monasterevin."

His motion was seconded by Social Democrats Cllr Chris Pender.

In its report at the meeting, KCC revealed that it has no current plans to upgrade this junction, but added that upgrade works at the junction may be carried 'as part of future development if deemed to be warranted.'

Sinn Féin Cllr Noel Connolly.

Commenting further on his motion, Cllr Connolly told KCC: "I see it as a safety issue... and you can see it (the danger) if you spend around 10 minutes there.

"We really need to move beyond this."

Fianna Fáil (FF) Cllr Suzanne Doyle agreed with his sentiments, and said that she believed that the traffic lights in the area should be re-examined.

She added: "If we can do something to make traffic more streamlined there, we should be doing it."

Cathaoirleach and FF Cllr Noel Heavey mentioned that he was aware of a similar area in County Kildare, Thomastown, that is facing a similar issue.

"I have seen numerous accidents happen there myself," he said.

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Responding to the councillors, Mr Hodgins explained that KCC has to follow the Climate Action Plan: "We have to try and reduce emissions, so if we do something alleviate the traffic there, it would be incompatible (with the Plan), as it would increase capacity.

"I'm not saying the area is sufficiently effective at the moment, I'm just saying that we are constrained in what we can do here."

He continued: "It's like pouring water into a bucket; if it goes over capacity, the water will overspill.

"Also, we need to keep in mind, we don't want to reward bad motorist behaviour either."