Still no sign of Limerick village getting a mention on motorway

MORE than a dozen road signs will be impacted by any decision to add the Limerick village of Castleconnell to signage on the M7 motorway.

That’s according to a senior engineer at Limerick City and County Council who was responding to a motion put forward, this week, at a meeting of the Transport and Transportation Special Policy Committee.

In his motion, Cllr Seighan O’Ceallaigh sought to have the local authority write to Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) “urging it to amend signage on the M7 motorway at Junction 28 northbound and at Junction 27 southbound to include the tourist village of Castleconnell”.

In a written reply to the motion, director of service Kieran Lehane confirmed the council has been in contact with TII which stated that it is not in a position to address the “constant stream of requests for ad hoc additions and alterations to road signs”.

TII, he said, also suggested that matter be referred to the Mid West Roads Designs Office and Failte Ireland for further consideration.

Tim Fitzgerald, senior engineer at the Mid West Roads Design Office told the meeting he does not believe it is feasible to add Castleconnell to the existing motorway signage as requested.

Referring to Junction 27 in particular, he said a further 13 signs would have to be changed to direct motorists to Castleconnell once they leave the motorway.

Cllr O’Ceallaigh says it would make sense to have signage at Junction 27 (southbound) to direct people to Castleconnell via Birdhill as it is the most direct route.

“We are doing a lot of work to promote tourism in Castleconnell – the very least we need is signage on the motorway,” he said.

Because of time constraints, the debate on Cllr O’Ceallaigh’s motion was curtailed with the committee chairman, Cllr Frankie Daly, urging his council colleague to speak directly with Mr Fitzgerald about the matter afterwards.