FIRST PUBLISHED ON MARCH 16TH | LATEST UPDATE 03/04/17

A local resident has contacted me to advise of some poorly considered sign placement on the R395 at Clonagapple, Delvin.

With the N52 road closure now in full effect, signs have now been placed either side of a particularly sharp bend to casually alert motorists that “oncoming lorries may be in the middle of the road”!

As Eílís writes…

Further to the roadworks / diversions this is one idiot road sign on R395 at Clonagapple This is an accident waiting to happen. Same sign either sign of a 90 degree bend. I checked the sign going towards Castlepollard – it is not within the required safe stopping distance from the vehicle travelling in front of you, never mind smacking straight into the front of a lorry in the middle of the road.

Comments from other road users include:

There have two crashes – 1 with two trucks meeting up at bridge near Bartley’s Pub and another involving a jeep and a car. Nobody was hurt but damage was caused to vehicles. This needs to be made 50 zone as everyone is in a hurry because of diversions. As for signs – they’re a joke. Some of the trucks are using school road as a rat run too.

Where is the bright spark engineer who thought sure its OK for the lorries to be in the middle of the road where the car that might meet them can’t even pull in!

Truck nearly ran into me yesterday. It was in the middle of the road – I think they were taking advantage of this sign.

That corner is dangerous enough at the best of times but it’s worse now. The bridge going to Drumcree from Delvin is just as bad – met a lorry yesterday morning and it was the full with of the road.

The traffic on the roads was unreal this evening. The Killucan road was a nightmare. Drive safe everyone as no thought went into diversions.

Would someone at Westmeath County Council please explain why the Delvin to Mullingar road is even blocked? Surely one lane could be left open and traffic lights be put in operation? 3 months of pure inconvenience and diversions on roads that are just about able for cars. It’s a total reflection on the brains of the engineers we have in our great county. Let’s all hope nobody is hurt or even killed with the idiotic manner in which signs have been placed – also in Delvin.

The whole diversion is a joke forcing massive lorries onto tiny back roads instead of having a stop go system on the main road. It’s madness. Delvin to Mullingar in the next few months is a dangerous prospect.

Village Closed?

A sign has also been placed at the junction with the N51 Athboy road, advising traffic from the north that the road ahead is closed. Not only does this imply that Delvin itself is closed, but the placement of the sign itself in the southbound lane is causing a hazard at a junction that some people struggle with at the best of times.

Some people struggle with the hill as it is – never mind having to try go around a sign too as they try to turn left. It’s an accident waiting to happen.

No need for that sign at all – it will cause an accident. Same goes for the cones on the Killucan turn off.

Responses

Westmeath County Council and local representatives have been approached for comment. Any responses received will be published below.

Update: Thank you to Cllr Una Darcy (SF) and TD Shane Cassells (FF) for their responses. No word to date from Westmeath County Council, TD Damien English (FG) or TD Peadar Toibin (SF).

I have been working on this since Thursday morning- the contractor for this work is Fox Contracts and the site supervisor at location. Feedback on specific issues can be directed to the contractor.

The choice of the detour was related to the need to use the road via Collinstown and Castlepollard- this is the protocol I am told

I agree completely on the fact that a small sign indicating the presence of large vehicles negoitating the middle of the road to get through that corner is bnot enough and the road closed sign for the detour indicates the village is closed which it isn’t and that this needs to be improved.

I myself had a serious head on collision at the location where you are taking the photos- bringing my kids to Rita McGrath- so I am really conscious of that road and its features. – Cllr Una Darcy

I had spoken with Senator Aidan Davitt on this issue extensively as he had raised it under a commencement notice in the Senate with Minister Shane Ross.

The issue of the closure was pressed with him and indeed I liaised with Aidan on the issue in terms of the Council.

There does not appear to be any way around the work being done in the fashion proposed while keeping the road open due to the nature of the scheme involved.

Having dealt with many similar schemes like this during my time on the council and sought for schemes (which took place on main streets themselves) to be conducted at night time I know that the deciding factors come down to a total escalation of the cost and indeed health and safety issues also. This would result in the funds not being available to do the work that is required due to the prohibitive cost.

What Senator Davitt and myself have been pressing for is an expedition of the time involved for the scheme to be completed. I know that the completion date is the 12th of June but if works can be facilitated in a timely fashion it is hoped to have the road opened sooner. – Shane Cassells TD