by Chris Ashmore
TWO junctions in the Oldtown area of Letterkenny are to get top priority to make them safer for pedestrians as well as motorists, it has emerged.
Concerns about road safety in this area have been raised on numerous occasions and recently a young woman was knocked down.
Cllr Donal ‘Mandy’ Kelly has been informed that the Oldtown Bridge junction and the Oldtown Bridge junction to Lismonaghan Road are now ranked number one and two respectively on what is known as the Large Scale Low Cost Accident Priority list which has been drawn up by Letterkenny-Milford Municipal District Council.
In the near future, consultants will be involved in assessing options to identify “the most suitable way forward” and to look at “potential funding avenues”.
This week Cllr Kelly tabled a motion at the January meeting of Letterkenny-Milford MD where he asked the Council to “explore every avenue to have road safety measures put in place from the bottom of the Lismonaghan junction right into the Oldtown Bridge.”
His motion favoured looking at options including adequate footpaths, a raised pedestrian crossing and a yellow box at the Hideout junction.
Cllr Kelly told the meeting that before Christmas a young lady was hospitalised after she was knocked down in the area.
He described the junction at the Hideout bar as being a “free for all” and felt that a yellow box and raised pedestrian crossing were needed.
However, progress on the issue remains slow.
Cllr Donal Coyle pointed out that he had a motion more than two and a half years ago in relation to road safety measures in the area.
While news of the priority list was welcomed by councillors, the fact that funding will have to be secured after a final design is agreed suggests that pedestrians and motorists will still be waiting some time before actual improvements start.
