Connemara drivers angry over roadside shrubbery

Overgrown bushes have become a serious hazard for road users in West County Galway.

Locals claim that hedgerows are so wild and bushy along regional and local roads in Connemara they are putting lives at risk.

“Safety and visibility is our main concern,” said N59 Action Campaign spokesperson Gerry King of Erris Lannan, near Clifden.

“Bushes along the side of the road have become so overgrown they have grown out a metre either side onto the road. It is no longer safe,” he said.

There has been a recent growth spurt this August, which has made the problem worse than other years.

“There wasn’t much growth in the Spring and then we had the hot Summer, but all of a sudden there’s been a lot of greenery along the side of roads that is encroaching onto the road and is impacting on visibility. They need to be cut right back to the stone walls,” he said.

Mr King said the Wild Atlantic Way is becoming ever-more popular with visitors but that has increased the traffic along the smaller roads of Connemara and they are not in a safe state to accept that traffic, he said.

Roads in Moyard, Clifden, Ballyconneely, Letterfrack and Renvyle are particularly overgrown, he said.

“It’s the usual suspects, but all roads in Connemara, both local and regional, are experiencing this problem. It is Galway County Council’s responsibility to cut the bushes, but I suppose they’ll say that they do not have the money,” said Mr King.

Two cars cannot pass each other along many of the roads, which are narrow enough anyway. It is unsafe, too, for cyclists who meet cars along the road, and worse again if buses or heavy goods vehicles have to pass.

“What you’re getting is a lot of mirrors being clipped and banged and it’s almost impossible to drive along the road without getting clipped,” he said.

Mr King said the cutting season reopened on September 1 and he called on the local authority to put in place a schedule for bush-cutting of the worst affected roads in Connemara.

“Some roads out here haven’t been cut back properly in a couple of years. This is all about visibility and safety,” added Mr King.