BREAKING: 'Teeth, shoulders and wrists broken' on newly designed Kildare road

People have broken teeth, shoulders and wrists as a result of falls on a road which was upgraded in Naas to provide enhanced footpaths and cycle lanes.

The work took place along Kilcullen Road and Cllr Carmel Kelly claimed, at a Naas Municipal District committee meeting, that there have been up to 40 incidents.

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She was one of several councillors who asked Kildare County Council to come up with options” to improve visibility of the raised kerbs there.

Cllr Kelly acknowledged that the work has been done to technically correct standards but “it’s a welfare issue and it's not just one person (affected).”

Cllr Kelly suggested painting the kerbs red.

Cllr Evie Sammon said that the people sustaining injuries are meant to be the highest priority in terms of creating safe paths and roads.

“We’re seeing people getting injured," she said.

Cllr Fintan Brett asked KCC to provide a pedestrian crossing across the Ballymore Road adjacent to Swan’s  on the Green “to ensure a safe crossing area for pedestrians.”

Cllr Bill Clear said it was distressing to witness some of the accidents, including a woman who fell and was bleeding from a head wound.

KCC engineer Dónal Hodgins said the council is aware of the issues and unfortunate incidents and accidents and the council is endeavouring to understand which it is happening.

He said at Loch Bui it's not clear that it's a pedestrian crossing and at one point  the kerb and the road are at the same level.

Mr Hodgins also said it’s necessary to ensure that an intervention improves the situation.

He also said  the Kilcullen Road Active Travel Scheme, as it’s known, was produced by competent designers and built to specification by the contractors. 

The design was approved by the NTA and subjected to independent road safety audits. “Based on these, KCC is satisfied that the scheme is consistent with national design standards,” he added.

Nevertheless, Kildare County Council has appointed a consultant to independently review the interaction of the public with the scheme and the issues raised will be considered by the consultant, who will report back in six-eight weeks.