Road safety concerns in Carrigaholt

A MEMBER of the West Clare Municipal District has expressed his fears over the safety of holiday-makers at a caravan park in Carrigaholt, where there is no footpath on a 350km section of road into the village.
Tabling a motion at the most recent district meeting, Councillor Cillian Murphy said there was an opportunity for the council to put in a path after work on the drains along route between Carrigaholt and the Amigos Holiday Park.
“This road is narrow, fast and dark,” the Fianna Fáil member said. “There are 120 caravans, the council gave planning permission for site. There could be up to 400 people staying there, many of them children.”
Expressing his dissatisfaction with a response from the local authority, saying there are no plans to construct a footpath, Councillor Murphy said, “The park is a key economic driver for the village and is a rate-payer. The lack of a path reinforces reliance on cars”.
The motion was supported by Councillor Gabriel Keating who noted that the road in question was narrow and dangerous. Councillor Róisín Garvey added her support as did Councillor Ian Lynch, who described the council response to the motion as “frustrating’.
A written response from Alan Kennelly, Senior Executive Engineer for the district noted that surface water drainage works have been carried out on the southern side of the L-2004 between Carrigaholt village and Amigo’s Caravan Park.
“The L-2004 in this area is narrow and is in an 80 km/h speed limit area,” the response stated. “There would be Health and Safety implications (for both pedestrians and drivers) to constructing a footpath in an 80 km/h speed limit area. There does not appear to be space to construct a footpath of the necessary width in the available space/road width.”
The reply also noted that the construction of a footpath could have implications for the drainage works carried out to-date.
“Were a footpath to be constructed in this location, it would need to be approx 350m long, 1.5m to 2m wide, with provision made for public lighting,” it stated. “This footpath would be relatively expensive. A funding source to construct such a footpath has not been identified, and should a funding source become available perhaps this project could be considered. However, Clare County Council has no plans to construct this footpath at the moment.”