By Diarmaid Doherty
A Letterkenny family say they are living a daily nightmare because the road which passes by their home has become a death trap.
The McCrossans have lived all their lives at Scribley on the Leck Road.
But what was once a relatively quiet road is now a dangerously busy route where motorists are availing of the chance to avoid heavy traffic in other parts of the town.
Malachy and Kathleen McCrossan say the traffic has never been worse and the speed at which some motorists are traveling has become a major concern.
Main pic: Malachy and Kathleen McCrossan, Mairead McCrossan, Val McNulty, Pamela McCrossan and ‘Mollie’ the ‘speed gun operator’ appealing for drivers to slow down at Scribley, Letterkenny.
They have long been appealing for action to be taken to make the road safer and insist that speed ramps are the only solution.
“Every day we are waiting for something to happen on that road,” Kathleen said.
“I have told the council’s engineer and I said when something happens, it will be too late then.”
The couple have raised their concerns with both the council and the gardaí and say speeding along the route has got worse since it was resurfaced three years ago.
Last year, in a tongue-in-cheek way of trying to slow the traffic, they placed ‘Mollie’ outside their front gate. The mannequin was dressed in a high viz jacket and held a makeshift ‘speed gun’ made from a hairdryer.
‘Mollie’ is back in place again, along with a ‘slow down’ road sign which was removed by a passer-by over the weekend and discarded in nearby Oldtown.
Two of Malachy and Kathleen’s children, Sandra and Paul, both live in neighbouring houses and they’ve backed up their parents’ concerns with horror stories of their own.
Paul said the family all have great difficulty getting their own cars out onto the busy road because their houses are located close to the brow of a hill.
“There’s been many’s a near miss,” he said.
“You’re trying to get out onto the road, but you’re taking a big chance because it’s a blind spot.”
For Sandra, visiting her parents’ house each day is also a challenge in itself.
“I can walk the short distance, but when I’m coming out the gate, I have to stop and look down the road to make sure nothing’s coming before I can get across the road.
“The cars are flying. You’re taking your life into your own hands.”
‘Mollie’ is back in place again
Only recently Malachy had a close escape when cutting hedges. He’d placed a cone on the side of the road to warn motorists to be careful, but only minutes after moving inside to his garden, a car flew past, hitting the cone and smashing it to bits.
“I was lucky I wasn’t out on the road,” Malachy said. “The cone was close to the edge of the road, but it was still hit by the car.”
On the other side of the McCrossans live Kathleen’s brother Val McNulty and his wife Let.
Such is the speed of passing traffic that when they are leaving their house, Let now stands out on the road to guide Val out in his car.
The road is governed by a 60kmph speed limit and there are speed limit signs in place along the route. Unfortunately the speed limit is being ignored by way too many motorists.
Traffic passing the McCrossan home at Scribley Photos: Declan Doherty
Sandra added: “This road was once used by walkers and runners who would do a loop around the town.
“But they don’t come this way anymore because it’s too busy.
“The traffic starts to build first thing in the morning, at school time, and then again in the evening.”
Last week the residents along this road had to endure queues of traffic right throughout rally weekend.
The rally might be over for another year, but the traffic problems will still be there – unless something is done.
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