Residents warn of dangers on deadly N84 stretch

A Galway woman has told the Minister for Transport how a deadly section of busy road had left her with life-changing injuries — after she was involved in two major accidents along the same short stretch.

Breeda Murphy was part of an Annaghdown delegation to meet with Minister Shane Ross at Leinster House last week as part of the N84 Upgrade Campaign. Led by Cllr James Charity, it also included local campaigners Eamon Gleeson and Niamh Lardner.

Cllr Charity outlined the traffic volumes on the road, highlighting that vehicle movements had increased from approximately 8,000 per day in 2005 to 13,500 per day in 2018. He also drew attention to the fact that the road was operating at over 120% capacity based on TII’s own traffic indicator data.

And Ms. Murphy vividly recounted her own experiences of having been involved in two major accidents on the road as both a pedestrian and motorist, both of which left her with life-changing injuries.

She also highlighted the fact that history continues to repeat itself with her own niece, as well as a number of local residents, having been involved in very serious collisions on the road over recent months.

Mr. Gleeson, Chair of Annaghdown Parish Council, informed the Minister of the road conditions on the ground, opening a series of images vividly depicting the narrowness and poor condition of the road, as well as showing the effect minor collisions had in causing serious tailbacks and consequent effects on the local road network. He also highlighted the difficulties for motorists and emergency vehicles using the road, particularly ambulances, when responding to situations.

Minister Ross engaged extensively and positively with the group and TII officials, demonstrating an eagerness to progress works on the road. Mr. Pender advised that given the nature of the surrounding landscape and topography, the best route forward for the scheme was under the Minor Works Scheme, initially for a 4.5km stretch of the road leading from Ballindooley to Curraghmore, approximately 3.5km south of Clonboo. A detailed costing was outlined to the meeting indicating advanced works for this would cost approximately €3.5 million, with the total scheme costing approximately €13.5 million.

The proposal would involve the construction of a 7.5m carriageway with 2.5m hard shoulders either side to link into the proposed N6 Galway Bypass at Ballindooley.

It was revealed that one further allocation under the Minor Works Scheme was due in 2018, with a further four expected in 2019 and the N84 Headford Road would be considered for these allocations following assessment of the case for the upgrade and in accordance with TII’s safety ratings.

A petition signed by over 1000 motorists using the route and calling for an upgrade was also received by the Minister from the group.

Galway West TD Noel Grealish assisted in arranging the Leinster House meeting which was also attended by Minister of State Sean Kyne, and TDs Hildegarde Naughton and Eamon Ó Cuív, as well as Galway County Council’s Director of Services for Roads and Transportation Jim Cullen, Derek Prender from TII’s Galway office and Kevin Kelly, TII Director for the Western Region.