No money for barriers on 'extremely dangerous' road

Cllr Adrian Glackin at the junction he says is a tragedy waiting to happen.

A Letterkenny councillor has hit out after being told there is no money to install crash barriers on an ‘extremely dangerous’ road.

Cllr Adrian Glackin said that current safety measures on the back road from Glen to Milford were inadequate and that with the winter months looming, there was potential for a serious accident.

But at this month’s meeting of Letterkenny Municipal District, council engineers said there was no money to carry out upgrades.

Cllr Glackin said that it was his understanding trees along the road had been cut down to facilitate this year’s rally and that as a result, a large drop had been left exposed.

“This road will be used by school buses and there are fears that in icy weather, it will prove to be extremely dangerous,” he said.

Council’s road officials said a protective earth wall as well as reflectors had been put in place to alert drivers to the dangers. But there was no money to do anything else, they said.

“There is currently no funding programme for the erection of safety barriers on non-national roads,” Cllr Glackin was told.

“The location has been referred for design, such that in the event funding becomes available, works can be implemented.”

The Sinn Féin councillor argued that public safety should be put before money.

“Safety should be put first and I don’t want to be coming back here in a month or a year and talking about a fatality on that road,” he said.

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