Councillors have their say on busy Tipperary village set for massive upgrade

The recent Nenagh MD meeting saw an update from Brendan Lyons, Technical Director of Transport: RPS on the plans for the upgrade to the North Tipperary village of Carrigahorig.

The scheme was originally identified as a pavement improvement scheme by TII and included a TII road safety inspection that identified a number of safety issues in the village.

Some of these issues included vehicles travelling at high speeds, no public footpaths crossing Carrigahorig stream and no pedestrian connectivity through the village.

The objectives of the scheme are to improve the structural strength of the pavement and the ride quality, provide safe pedestrian and cyclist passage through the village, reduce traffic speeds, reduce existing environmental impacts and incorporate local stakeholder requirements where possible.

The scheme does not require a planning submission and was approved by TII in February of this year. The project is now in phase VIII and close to beginning physical work. The total funding for the project is €1.6 million.

Local councillor Michael O’Meara was first to praise the project. “This is the culmination of at least ten years of work.

“It will be a terrific project for Carrigatoher when it’s complete.”

However, despite this praise, not all councillors at the Nenagh MD were satisfied with the plan.

Cllr Joe Hannigan asked if they would be getting rid of the central white line that currently divides the road.

Mr Lyons responded saying that they would indeed be removing the white line due to the narrowing of the road and that putting a white line there would make the road appear wider than it is to road users, leading to faster speeds through the village.

Cllr Hannigan said, “Having no central line on the N65 is crazy to me, I understand the challenges but the solution isn’t ideal.”

Cllr Hannigan also remarked on the placement of the new planned bus stop saying that not having an offset bus stop was incredibly dangerous for such a busy road.

Mr Lyons responded “a lot of what has been put into the scheme is up to the very best standard and one thing I will say about the project so far is that the public consultation has been excellent.”

Cllr Hannigan said “Well I would definitely be concerned about some elements.”

He then referenced the fact that the plan moves the speed limit sign at the junction turning toward Terryglass stating that where the new sign will be does not give drivers enough notice before the turn.

Cllr Ryan O’Meara echoed Cllr Hannigan’s statements saying “I have to agree with Cllr Hannigan’s concerns.

“I travel the road to Galway quite often and I know from experience that people drive very fast on that road.

“I would also be worried about the bus stopping on that road and I can understand why you would get rid of the white line but I agree that there is possibly a better way of looking at this.

“Now is the time to look at that bus stop.”

The councillors were advised that they had a number of weeks to make changes to the plans before progressing to the next phase so they agreed to rule on a final decision at the next Nenagh MD meeting in October.