Collision prompts call for N85 safety measures

Calls were made at an Ennis West Electoral area meeting to issue an urgent appeal to the National Roads Authority to implement safety measures on the N85 at Kilnamona following a collison there last Thursday.
Councillor James Breen told members that it was “lucky there wasn’t a loss of life” in relation to the single vehicle incident which occurred on a stretch of road by the pitch and putt course in Kilnamona.
The incident saw a car leave the road and drop a number of feet into the Shallee River. The sole occupant of the car was uninjured. 
On Monday, Councillor Breen asked the Ennis West Committee to issue an “urgent appeal to the NRA to come up with funding before there is a loss of life. This drop is on a busy road and it is deadly dangerous”.
Eamon O’Dea, senior executive engineer, explained that funding had been allocated for another section of the same road. He said that despite a submission for funding to improve safety at the location where the incident occurred, it was deemed outside the remit of the section of the NRA to which the council applied.
In a formal response following this discussion, Clare County Council stated, “The council did seek funds from the NRA to facilitate improvements at this location in late 2010 in preparation for the 2011 programme. This was one of a number of applications made in relation to road safety issues along the National Secondary Route network in the county. Unfortunately, while the NRA did approve funding in relation to a total of five sites, this was not one of them.”
The five allocations referred to locations on the N68 including Knockalough, the junction at Bansha, the junction at Darragh, the junction of the N68/N85 at Ennis, and a bend on the N85 at Kilnamona, which is to the west of where the incident occurred last week.
“Apart from the above, the total allocation confirmed by the NRA for 2011 in relation to safety schemes was €430,000. Where a number of accidents have occurred at a particular location, such statistics strengthen any case that is made for road safety related funding.
“The council is most anxious to resolve this situation and the most likely approach to doing so is to increase the separation between the public road and the adjacent river and to construct an appropriate barrier between them.  Implementation of this will depend on availability of funding from the NRA and there is no clarity on this at present. However, the council will continue to pursue the matter,” the council spokesperson concluded.