At long last: Doran’s Bridge work set to start in coming weeks
[ PAGE 7 ]
FOLLOWING months and months of lobbying from the people of Kiltealy and surrounding areas, it appears the first major steps towards rectifying the lethal junction at Doran’s Bridge, just outside the village, will be taken in the coming weeks.
The junction of the roads coming from Bunclody and Enniscorthy has been the scene of several accidents over the past year with one mother living at the junction saying that she has seen up to two or three per month at its worst. There was a large attendance at a public meeting on the matter in Kiltealy and a committee was formed to liaise with the council on how best to fix the junction before it claims someone’s life.
Minister Paul Kehoe says that he has listened to the concerns of the people of Kiltealy and that he and Cllr Kathleen Codd Nolan have spoken with Chief Engineer Noel O’Driscoll and been assured that work would be getting under way very soon. The council plans to erect solar powered flashing lights coming up to the junction from the Bunclody side and re-allign the signs that are there. Minister Kehoe says they will also continue to cut back some more of the vegetation on the roadside and will resurface the junction completely, placing new road markings there too.
‘Wexford County Council are hoping that this will have the desired effect and that people will slow down and take heed of the junction,’ he said. ‘Once the work is carried out the situation will be further monitored for a few months.’
Cllr Codd Nolan said that she was delighted that progress had been made.
‘I’m hopeful that these measures will have a big impact,’ she said. ‘I think when you approach the junction, if you see these big flashing lights, you would be more inclined to slow down. As well as that, cutting back the growths at the side of the road up there has already had a positive effect, so hopefully it will add to this.’
While residents had initially hoped that the junction could be re-allligned, cold water was poured on this idea as the estimated costs were said to have been upwards of €700,000. Minister Kehoe said that the council would monitor the effect the upgrades have, but a re-allignment would be a ‘ last resort’.