Ballinderry area traffic concerns raised by Glynn at MKMD

As a large number of houses progress towards completion on the Ballinderry Road in Mullingar, concerns about the implications for traffic levels and road safety in the area are emerging.

The issue was raised at Mullingar Municipal District level by Cllr Ken Glynn, who asked what plans are in place for traffic calming once work on Ballinderry Gardens is complete.

The official written response stated that a condition of the planning permission granted to the developer of Ballinderry Gardens is one requiring that traffic calming measures be put in place on the L1132.

“The District Office are engaging with the developer to agree the details of these measures. Any additional safety measures along the Ballinderry Road can be considered as part of future works estimates,” the response concluded.

Cllr Glynn told officials the road is already busy and quite dangerous, and on top of that, there are many estate entrances along the route, catering for Newtown, Chestnut Drive, Chestnut Grove, Oakcrest, Millmount and Ballinderry Road cottages.

“At times, you’re taking your life into your own hands trying to get out of some of those estates,” he said, adding that residents of Newtown Lawns had a particular difficulty, in that the sightline as they emerge and turn right is inadequate.

He said the road safety measures should be put in place before the estates are completed: “I don’t want it to be a case of putting the houses up for sale and then we’ve no infrastructure to meet the demand,” he said, contrasting it with the “job well done” between Farranshock and Greville Park.

In support of Cllr Glynn’s motion were Cllrs Julie McCourt and Aoife Davitt. The latter pointed out that with the introduction of the new bus service, there are now larger vehicles on the road, along with the extra development.

Tullaniskey

There was also plenty of support for a call by Cllr Glynn for a number of traffic calming measures along the stretch of road from Ballinderry Hill towards the Tullaniskey junction.

Cllr Glynn appealed for the backing of his colleagues to his request, stating that there are a lot of estates along the road, including Lynn heights and Hillview and Highfield, Belvedere, Ballinderry Gardens, the medical clinic and all the houses along both sides of Ballinderry Road and Hill.

“It’s a very busy road,” he said, adding that there would be complaints from every residential area along that road.

Cllr Glynn said that he and engineer Pat Kavanagh had met a group of residents there about three or four weeks previously, and it had been agreed that “potentially five to six” traffic calming measures were required.

He was hoping, he said, that area would be given priority in the next works estimates.

“It’s going to be a considerable expense but I think it needs to be done,” he said.

Cllr Emily Wallace said that as someone driving that area practically every day, she fully supported the motion.

Also in support was Cllr Julie McCourt, who said speed was a big issue there.

The official written response provided by the executive to Cllr Glynn stated that the district office was prepared to consider traffic calming measures at that location as part of future works estimates.