Parents consider protest action over dangerous school crossing

From this week’s Galway City Tribune – Concerned parents are so frustrated at the lack of a school warden on the Clybaun Road they are considering staging a protest at the pedestrian crossing in a bid to force motorists to slow down to let children get to school safely.

There has been no regular school warden at the crossing – adjacent to Clybaun Stores which leads to St John the Apostle National School – since last October.

Councillor Donal Lyons (Ind) believes it will possibly be September before a new school warden will be assigned to the location.

Last week, a school staff member was very lucky not to be seriously injured when they were “clipped” by a motorist who did not even stop after the incident. On one occasion last year, a school warden was standing in the middle of the crossing shepherding schoolchildren across when a car drove straight through.

One parent who lives nearby said drivers regularly go through the crossing without stopping or slowing down.

“They don’t even see the pedestrians, or perhaps don’t care. Even when you’ve actually stepped onto the road, onto the crossing, cars will still fly through. It’s dangerous for adults, and even more dangerous for kids who can’t react as quickly. This is a problem at all times, not just during the school drop-off and pick-ups, but traffic is always heavier first thing in the morning,

“It’s a very busy crossing and the Council engineers need to look at what exactly the problem is. We need to look at raising awareness and forcing the Council to do something about it; get out there and man the crossing with placards to raise awareness among drivers, pedestrians and cyclists.

“Someone will be killed or seriously injured,” the parent said.

Cllr Lyons said traffic has increased considerably since the opening of the extension to the Gateway Retail Park and the increased population in the greater Knocknacarra area. There are also more motorists using the route to avoid road works on the Kingston Road.

This is a shortened preview version of this story. To read the rest of the article, see the May 5 edition of the Galway City Tribune. You can support our journalism and buy a digital edition HERE.