Closing the ‘back of the wall’ chicken run still the smart move
Mount Avenue, or as most locals know it, ‘ the back of the wall’ is again becoming the subject of much debate in town.
For generations the ‘ the back of the wall’ was a favourite walk with townspeople, especially courting couples, short of a few bob in midweek to enjoy a visit to the cinema.
At that time there was little housing along the route, just a few cottages at the bad bend, and some fine detached houses at both ends of the road.
Over time however, as Dundalk needed to expand on all sides, more individual houses, and estates were opened up off Mount Avenue.
Inevitably this increased the volume of traffic on a road that had neither the width, or the foundations to cope, with even more congestion caused with the opening of the De La Salle College next door to St. Louis Convent as parents, anxious to avoid the Castletown Road, chaos looked on Mount Avenue as a ‘chicken run’.
The proposal that has now emerged for a new road was first mooted in 2006 when the Dundalk Master Plan for the area was published to open 43 hectares of land off Mount Avenue for housing development.
Under this plan Mount Avenue would become a cul-de sac, and the link between the two roads, the Carrick and Castleblayney roads, would be through Lis na Dara estate, which is located off the Carrick Road, about half a mile from the Mount Avenue Road.
Initially the Lis na Dara residents did not like this proposal, but it was always envisaged that the road through their estate would be the primary link between the Carrick and Castleblayney roads simply because Mount Avenue cannot take the volume of traffic, and it would be very expensive and highly disruptive to widen the road.
The problem with this new plan, which seems eminently sensible to most, is that some councillors feel that residents it would cut the community in Mount Avenue in half.
But would the residents not welcome that prospect if it eliminates excessive traffic travelling far too fast round a road that was built for the horse and cart, and a pleasant stroll for courting couples.