Blackhall Lane: ‘Drivers going wrong way on purpose’

Councillors in Mullingar have voiced alarm at the growing problem of motorists driving the wrong way out of Blackhall Lane to Mount Street, warning that it is only a matter of time before a serious accident occurs.

Raising the issue at the September meeting of Mullingar Kinnegad Municipal District, Cllr Emily Wallace said she regularly sees two or three cars a day emerging the wrong way from the narrow road, close to Murtagh’s and Wallace’s pub.

"Something really has to be done there," she said. "You have the schools coming down Mount Street, with parents and children watching traffic coming up as they should be – but they are not watching for traffic to come out of Blackhall the wrong way. There was a near miss on Saturday when one car came up from the county buildings and another flew down Blackhall Lane at speed. It is a miracle nobody was injured."

Cllr Wallace said the situation was particularly dangerous at this time of year, when school traffic is at its busiest. "They’re not expecting cars to come out at that angle, and some of them are driving far too fast. It’s only by sheer luck that we haven’t had an accident," she warned.

Senior engineer Pat Kavanagh said he had witnessed the behaviour too, and stressed that it was not a case of inadequate signage. "It’s nothing to do with lanes or signs. The people who are doing that know what they’re doing," he told the meeting. "They’re using it as a shortcut out of town, and that’s why they’re driving so fast."

He said the problem lay squarely in the area of enforcement: "It is really a policing issue. All we can do is ask the gardaí to monitor it. We had a similar problem in O’Growney, and to be fair to the guards, they dealt with it. We may have to ask them to do the same here."

Members agreed that the matter should be raised with gardaí locally. Cllr Wallace said she hoped proactive monitoring would prevent an accident before it happened: "It’s the same small number of drivers, and they’re making a deliberate choice. But if it continues unchecked, it could cost someone their life."

The council also heard calls to repaint road markings outside schools while contractors are still active, Cllr Wallace noting that faded markings were adding to confusion for drivers and pedestrians.