Newtown area needs ‘watertight’ safety plan: Glynn

A call for a “watertight” safety plan for the stretch of road between the roundabout at Saunders Bridge and the roundabout at Newtown was made by Cllr Ken Glynn at the September meeting of the Municipal District of Mullingar Kinnegad.

Cllr Glynn told officials he was making the call in the context of the recent approval for a large residential development in the area by An Bord Pleanála.

The written response from the district said that a condition of the planning approval is that the developer install/extend the public footpath and public lights along the Russellstown Road to the proposed entrance, and also that signage signalling the new junction will be erected.

Cllr Glynn told the meeting he has had a concern about that section of road for some time: quite apart from the number of bends, there are, he said, a lot of estates opening on to the road, such as Chestnut Grove and Drive; Oakcrest; Newtown Lawns and Millmount.

“And obviously we’re going to be seeing quite a significant increase,” he said.

Continuing, he said there is a dip in the road that poses a problem for motorists exiting Newtown Roads, and on a morning when roads are slippy, it is difficult for motorists to exit Oakcrest.

Cllr Mick Dollard wondered if the safety measures required of the developer be “front-loaded”, and he said that he believed signs should be erected opposite Chestnut Drive and at the cottages at New Ballinderry to create awareness of the hump on the road there.

Cllr Aoife Davitt said that a lot more work is required beyond what has been done already to improve safety there, while Cllr Andrew Duncan said that road has had problems with speed, but that with the new – and welcome development – the number of users would increase, and that it is now time to look at reducing the speed limit there.

Pedestrian access

Cllr Glynn went on to raise the subject of a pedestrian access from the new estate in to Chestnut Drive, something to which the residents were opposed. “Has that been granted?” he asked.

Responding, district engineer Pat Kavanagh commented that there are “quite a lot of things” happening on that road at the moment.

He repeated that the developer is required to carry out footpath works and install additional lighting.

He said he wasn’t aware of what decision had been made in terms of the access to Chestnut Drive.

Bus route

Mr Kavanagh went on to remind members that the Newtown area is also to be a location for the new bus route: “We’re looking at a design there for a bus terminus at that point, so the bus can actually turn around, close to Newtown Lawns.”

He said the district has also asked Active Travel to include the area as part of the cycling and pedestrian access to Mullingar town centre.

“And indeed we can look at signage when all of this is put together: I expect a lot of that will happen fairly soon.”

Mr Kavanagh went on to say that drainage works have been carried out in the Newtown Lawns area, and he explained that once work on the bridge at the Ardmore Road is complete, the district will be able to look at traffic management on the road, and to investigate whether it requires ramps.