Residents demand safety works to cope with additional traffic

Residents along one of the main arteries into Tuam are demanding the completion of a long-running road widening project in advance of the opening of the new stretch of motorway later this year.

Householders in the Kilbannon area say that their road will be a potential death trap as it is anticipated that it will be taking a huge amount of additional traffic when the new Gort to Tuam motorway opens.

And they have warned that, unless a stretch of the road coming into town is widened, it will also become extremely dangerous for motorists.

Several years ago a stretch from the old sugar factory on the Ballygaddy Road to Kilbannon was widened and local residents say that they were told that there would be another phase of road widening in advance of the new motorway being opened up.

But residents’ spokesman Paschal Mannion said that he had been informed by Galway County Council engineers that the road further out would not be widened and that just four inches of tar would be laid on the existing surface.

“This is completely unacceptable. When the motorway near Tuam opens, this road is going to carry a huge amount of additional traffic and it is simply not safe to do so.

“Anyone who travels along this road on a regular basis know full well that it is very dangerous with lethal bends and a very uneven surface. A further road widening programme is essential before the motorway and bypass of Tuam is opened,” Mr Mannion said.

But Director of Services for Roads with Galway County Council Michael Timmins told The Connacht Tribune that the funds were not in place for a full realignment of this stretch.

He agreed that when the motorway opens that it will generate more traffic along this road and said that this would probably increase the chances of it becoming a priority for realignment.

Mr Timmins said that works would be carried out to improve the surface of this stretch of road but budgetary constraints prevented the Council from carrying out the works that local residents are seeking.

The residents are referring in particular to the stretch from Duddy’s pub in Kilbannon to Kilconly GAA pitch which is around a half mile in distance and said that this is a particularly dangerous section.

Last weekend locals held a protest at a monument which was erected in memory of a young motorist who lost his life over ten years ago along this stretch of road. They intend to take their campaign into the offices of Galway County Council.

The Kilbannon Concerned Citizens group say that traffic on this road will intensify later on in the year as it will provide access onto the new motorway. Around 60 local residents have signed a petition calling for the road to be widened.

“We are deeply disappointed to hear the news that the road from Duddy’s pub to the football pitch is not going to be widened now. We have learned that Galway County Council has received a large grant to upgrade this road.

“But instead of starting to widen the road, what they plan to do is lay four inches of tar on top of it. This is a dangerous stretch of road. A young man lost his life there in 2006.

“It is already a busy road as it serves the local Kilbannon National School and the football pitch. When the motorway opens, it will attract a lot more traffic and particularly from South Mayo,” Mr Mannion added.

He said that there are several young families in the area and that it is not safe for them to walk or cycle to school. He said that when the motorway opens, this road, which is the main road from Tuam to Ballinrobe, will become a death trap.