Kilbride lobby group puts notorious N80 case to councillors

A LOBBY group aimed at getting improvements made to the notorious N80 in the Kilbride area made a presentation to councillors and officials at this month’s Tullow municipal district meeting.

Spokesperson for Kilbride Road Improvement Group Damien Malone told the meeting that there had been at least eight serious accidents on that road since 2019 and that there had been “50 years of incremental changes at Kilbride Cross.” The group also showed a video of an incident in which a car speeds along the N80 at Kilbride Cross, narrowly missing a lorry and another car as an example of how motorists behave on that road.

Mr Malone laid out the group’s three main objectives in attending the meeting. They are: that immediate remedial works would be carried out at Kilbride Cross; that the council engage with Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) on their behalf; and that the council meet with the group again in six months to update them on developments.

Senior engineer Orla Barrett said that TII had six sites prioritised for improvements and that Kilbride Cross wasn’t among them. She also said that funding for improvements at White Mills had been pulled, but that it was hoped that resurfacing work would take place in the 2025/2026 programme of works. Ms Barrett continued that Boggins Hill wasn’t included in the national development plan, but the council is applying for funding for it.

Councillor Charlie Murphy said that in the 1960s it was promised that the stretch of road from Boggins Hill to White Mills would be realigned and it still hasn’t happened. He also mentioned that Shirley’s Bends still hasn’t been improved.

Cllr Ben Ward observed that “drastic change takes a long time,” so in the meantime, smaller improvements could be made to the N80.

“A blind person could see how dangerous this road is,” said Brian O’Donoghue, cathaoirleach of Tullow MD. He suggested that a lot of the accidents were down to driver behaviour and that more ‘Go Slow’ vans or a garda presence could improve that.

Cllr Jim Deane agreed that driver behaviour was a serious issue and said that TII should put measures in place to “force change” in driver behaviour.

Cllr William Paton congratulated the group on their presentation and urged the council to do “their level best” to get the road improvements to the N80 carried out.

Ms Barrett said that there’s a survey being carried out into what caused the accidents on the N80 and that TII will look to see what improvements can be made to make the road safer.

Cllr John Pender said that the whole situation had been going on for too long and that “it behoves us all to get something done.”