Due to concerns about children’s safety, a speed survey and traffic count will be carried out near Timahoe playground.
The decision follows a proposal from Councillor Paschal McEvoy, who asked the council to investigate the possibility of installing rumble strips on both approach roads in an attempt to slow down traffic.
At a meeting of Graiguecullen-Portarlington Muncipal district, McEvoy said a speed survey was essential as it wasn’t necessarily the volume of traffic but the speed of it.
Area engineer John Ormond said safety remedial measures such as rumble strips would be considered based on the results of the survey, which would be carried out in the coming weeks.
As well as that, the “treacherous” ESB pole which has restricted the visibility of motorists at Kerr’s Corner in Timahoe may be dealt with. Councillors and residents have campaigned for the poll to be removed for several years.
Cllr McEvoy was pleased to hear to hear Ormond say he contacted the ESB to arrange a meeting on site shortly.
McEvoy has raised the problem three or four times in the past four years since his election in 2014, and this was the nearest they had come to resolving the issue.
Cllr Pádraig Fleming said the saga was going for at least nine years, as he also raised it regularly during his five year term on the council.
“It is a a totally treacherous safety hazard, because there is no sightline to anyone trying to come out from the Stradbally Road. It’s totally dangerous,” Fleming stated.
John Ormond said he would be in touch with Cllr McEvoy after the meeting with the ESB representative, and that there may be problems such as underground cabling that would lead to a substantial cost.
“What can be done depends on the outcome of the site meeting.”
