Concerns raised following reports of ‘tyre blowouts’ at new cycle lanes in Kildare

The occurrence of “strikes” and “blowouts” on a road located in Athy was brought to the attention of Kildare County Council (KCC).

The Mayor of the Athy Municipal District (MD), Fine Gael councillor Ivan Keatley, raised the matter via an emergency motion at the latest Athy MD meeting.

His emergency motion was seconded by Labour Party Cllr Aoife Breslin.

At this meeting, which took place on Monday, November 17 last, he highlighted the Moone-Ballitore Pilot Scheme, and implored KCC to extend the 60 kilometres per hour speed limit in this region.

Mayor Keatley also urged KCC to improve visibility there and to erect extra signage for motorists.

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He said that he had previously attended a meeting with locals on the matter last week, along with Cllr Breslin and Labour Party Cllr Mark Leigh.

Mayor Keatley explained that a number of locals highlighted a variety of “strikes” and “a number of [tyre] blowouts”.

“I wanted to bring these matters to the attention of both KCC and Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) as these incidents remain ongoing,” he added.

He also said told KCC of a bizarre criminal occurrence: “There are people stealing traffic cones from the area. I wouldn't have believed it, but I saw it myself!”

Cllr Breslin also gave her view on the matter - she criticised the way that TII has been communicating with local residents.

She said that while TII has been in contact with these residents, she nevertheless claimed that there are still “some gaps in communication”.

In addition, Cllr Leigh, claimed that there is “low visibility” in the region and remarked that this was “unacceptable”.

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KCC RESPONSE

A representative of KCC who was present at the meeting said that construction works are still ongoing in relation to the Scheme, and that an audit of the area will follow in the future.

They added that any incidents on the road should be reported to the contractor, Glas Civil Engineering Limited.

Furthermore, the representative said that a speed limit review would take place in the future, but “not anytime soon”.

Mayor Keatley asked KCC (with the other councillors' agreement) to place the matter on the progress report for next month’s MD meeting.

The other councillors agreed to his request.

Mayor Keatley subsequently thanked KCC for their responses.

He also urged KCC: “In the meantime, [try to] urge Glas to get the signage up.”

Mayor of the Athy Municipal District, Fine Gael Cllr Ivan Keatley. Photograph credit: kildarecoco.ie

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Funded by the Local Democracy Reporting Scheme.