‘A disaster waiting to happen’: New road layout outside Limerick primary school criticised

A CONTROVERSIAL new road safety scheme outside Athea primary school has been described as “absolutely ridiculous” and “fundamentally wrong” by a local public representative.

Raising his concerns at the October meeting of the Newcastle West Municipal District, Cllr Liam Galvin, called for urgent changes to be made before an accident occurs.

Cllr Galvin said that while he fully supports measures to protect children at schools, the newly installed system in Athea has created serious safety concerns for drivers, particularly those operating larger vehicles.

“I’m a strong supporter of road safety for primary schools but what has been put in place in Athea makes no sense,” he said.

“If you’re a lorry driver, a bus driver or an agricultural contractor trying to get up that hill and you’re forced to stop, how are you supposed to take off again with traffic behind you? It’s a disaster waiting to happen," he told the meeting.

The Fine Gael councillor criticised the design of the scheme, which features a chicane system, saying it makes the road dangerously narrow and impractical for everyday use. He stressed that the issue lay not with the contractors but with the design team.

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“I drove down there myself last week and I couldn’t believe my eyes,” he said. “Anyone with a licence or even a bit of common sense can see this is wrong. The design team should be sent back for training.”

Cllr Galvin argued that alternative traffic-calming measures, such as speed ramps, clearer signage and better lighting, would have provided genuine safety improvements without restricting access.

He also raised concerns about the removal of parking spaces at the graveyard. “God love us if we have to bury the dead because the only place they can park is out on the road. If this is what’s being called road safety, then we’ve lost the run of ourselves,”

He is now calling on the local authority to urgently review the scheme “We must protect all road users, we will look after the  pedestrians, but the road has to be kept in a safe fashion for the vehicles going up and down".