Picket will block N11 at Ashford

October 1997

A ROAD blockade planned by angry residents of Ashford tomorrow morning (Friday) is set to bring traffic chaos to Co Wicklow.

Huge tailbacks and bumper-to-bumper traffic is forecast when the protesters take to the roads at 11 a.m. in an effort to highlight the lack of traffic-calming measures locally.

The protest is expected to last several minutes and local gardaí are on standby to cope with the huge volume of traffic expected to build up as a result.

Already this year there have been over 75 accidents in Ashford village and residents say now is the time to introduce traffic lights, a pedestrian crossing and speed signs before somebody is killed.

The local Labour Party, who are organising tomorrow’s road blockade, say they have continually written to Wicklow County Council but their plight has been ignored.

Among the protestors at tomorrow morning’s picket will be two local wheelchair bound pensioners who cannot cross the main road because of the lack of road crossings.

Also expected to be among the banner-clad protesters will be a local woman who lost her leg as a result of a traffic accident in the village earlier this year.

Spokesperson for the protest group Billy Crane said that locals are staging the demonstrations as a last resort.

‘ This problem has been ongoing for five years now. The volume of traffic is huge and yet there is nowhere for pensioners or young people to cross the road.

‘Both the old and the young are taking their lives into their own hands every time they cross the road. We are tired of writing to Wicklow County Council about the matter. We want action, not excuses,’ said Billy.

He says a number of local councillors, including Deputy Liam Kavanagh and Jimmy O’Shaughnessy, have raised the matter but to no avail.

Local gardaí are aware of the speeding problems in the area. In July, Ashford was chosen as the first village in Co. Wicklow in which the undercover Garda speed car known as the ‘Gatso’ was introduced.

The car, which has been operating on a regular basis in the village, is fitted with sophisticated camera technology which records speeding offenders.