THE scene of a number of road accidents in recent months has been highlighted to the Council for much needed safety measures.
Speaking at December’s Metropolitan District meeting, Fianna Fáil councillor Joe Pond called on the local authority to engage with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) in relation to Killonan Cross on the Tipperary Road.
He took the view that this junction now needs to be made safer for all road users.
“Killonan Cross on the N24 has been the scene of a number of crashes. In the months of October and November alone, there was three accidents there. Some residents from the area no longer use this junction at rush hour. They go on as far as Morrison’s, which is even adding more traffic,” Cllr Pond insisted.
The City East representative warned that the Killonan Road on the Tipperary Road is a straight stretch with little or no signage or safety measures to say there is a junction ahead.
“Traffic coming onto Tipperary Road and turning right to go towards and Annacotty or Castletroy try do so at their own peril. Also, people exiting on the Killonan Road to get to Limerick find it increasingly difficult to navigate as they have to cross an outbound lane of the N24 at the junction,” he added.
Fine Gael councillor Peter Doyle said that the N24 is an extremely busy road in the mornings with traffic coming from Tipperary. He deemed it a “nightmare” for residents and also hazardous for drivers coming out from Limerick who wish to access their houses.
“There’s a little lane up the right, possibly a set of traffic lights or a roundabout is required. I know we’re not great on the old roundabouts, so maybe we’d have to focus on a set of traffic lights,” Cllr Doyle suggested.
Independent councillor Ursula Gavan was unsure if traffic lights were the answer but agreed that the N24 is a nightmare at the Killlonan junction. She also felt that lighting was needed in the area.
In response to Cllr Pond’s proposal, the Council said that it has highlighted the accident profile of Killonan Junction on the N24 to TII.
“As part of the review of recent minor safety improvements, they have requested the collision history of this location. Limerick City and County Council will continue to engage with TII and provide an update once further information becomes available,” councillors were informed.