Local meeting to discuss ‘inaction’ on notorious stretch of road in Kilbride
The N80 road at Kilbride, Carlow Photo: michaelorourkephotography.ie
CONCERNED members of a local community are coming together to highlight “inaction” on the N80 in their area.
Organiser Jerry O’Toole told that they have been waiting for a bypass of the Kilbride stretch since it was promised as far back as 1955.
Councillors from the Tullow Municipal District area as well as deputy Jennifer Murnane O’Connor and Fine Gael election hopeful Catherine Callaghan have been invited to gather at the car park of The Forge at 6pm on Friday evening, 16 August.
“The plan is to bring them out to The Forge car park so that they can see the extent of the traffic. Then we’ll move to the hall at the football field so they can experience driving in and out of the field and experience what the parents of kids who use the facility experience all the time.
"The public meeting is for anyone with a concern or interest,” said Jerry.
The local man said that in his lifetime, five people had been killed on the one-kilometre stretch from the bottom of Boggan Hill to the football field and that there had been constant talk of widening the road.
“In 1955 or ’56, we got notice from the county council that the road was to be widened.
My father owned land and I remember he took two huge trees out of a field to facilitate the work.
"I remember when we were walking to school in Ballon as children, there was a council worker sitting on a wall with a pencil, counting the traffic.
"The road from Ballon to Closh was widened in 1968. It stopped at the bottom of the hill.
"In the 1970s, money was allocated to it. Someone came up with a great plan, to do nothing, absolutely nothing.”
Jerry went on to say that he is now semi-retired and has told “anyone who will listen” that he is going to try and do something about the road.
He recently took it upon himself to make and erect warning signs in the area, alerting motorists to the death toll.
The N80 is the main link between the M9 Motorway and Rosslare Euro Port and Divisional Roads Policing Inspector Paul Donohoe recently told that "the biggest thing about the N80 is the volume of traffic. It's constant.
Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), in conjunction with local authorities, is responsible for the provision of a safe and efficient network of national roads.
TII was contacted by for comment but had not responded by the time we went to press.
