Plan to upgrade Carlow road where three young people were killed has been in train for years

W

WizardDr

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Appalling situation in Carlow.

What concerns me is the article in the Irish Times.

Essentially a well known 'black spot'.

There should be NO black spots allowed to continue to exist.

This is criminal and should not be tolerated.

Won't bring back those lives but may stop unnecessary deaths and suffering going forward.

If this is behind a paywall just say so and I will summarise.

Plan to upgrade Carlow road where three young people were killed has been in train for years

Local county councillor described safety deficits on the N80 as ‘more or less an emergency’ just two weeks ago
www.irishtimes.com
 
I agree, but you should drive the road between the 2nd and 3rd cities of our country - an old 1980s design with huge traffic volume, way way in excess of Ballon traffic
Its appalling and no hope of a project start until 2030+.

If our brightest had considered a 50km motorway spur fromM8 at Michelstown to Limerick , then the road would have been built long ago for a fraction of cost of what is being planned now >1,000,000,000 euro!.

The alternative from Michelstown to Limerick is a R road - its not even a Nroad - a tractor at 50kmph will form queues of cars and lorries 10 deep. .

But no, we must have a new 110km road, following the old N20 boreen - and hence its only at very prelim design stage (route choosen to within a line of width +/-250m) , to consider all of the towns and villages on the way.

It takes 2hours to go by car from Cork to Limerick weekdays (110km). The train takes 2 1/2 hrs (if you are lucky).

Another one in Cork is the Ringaskiddy to Cork road - it features every morning on AA traffic with vast queues "from shannon park to shanbally church"......the M28 road will start to be built in 2024 (fingers crossed, 10yrs farting around)

Another one, Cork city doesnt have a North Ring road - its like the old Tallaght to Bray situation in 1990'ss, all the traffic from the Limerick road is designed (no pun) to take this road through housing estates to get to the Dunkettle/Tunnel.
 
Spare a thought for the North West where there is no motorway or train whatsoever and the road from Aughnacloy (Monaghan Tyrone border) to Lifford (Donegal) is a well known death trap with several deaths in the past few years alone.

Surely this should be prioritised by the government. Plans seem to be in place for road improvements but god knows when this will be built if ever.

Donegal is so neglected infrastructurally that its almost a bit embarassing, at this point. There is no political will or clout within Donegal to do anything effective about it bar talking.
 
My brother in law lost his life on that stretch last year, I do hope they do something to improve it.
A lot of trucks use that road, but sadly a lot of poor driving on it too.

The things I have seen since it happened on my travels down to my sister are nothing short of abysmal. People overtaking on those bends, with a white line. There is no hope with behaviour like that.
 
Sorry for your family's loss @Sarah Ryan .

I too am familiar with that road, I drive it regularly.
Sadly, I also agree with you that driver behaviour is likely to be the main cause of collisions in that area.

Advance warning signage is more than adequate in my humble opinion. Road surface condition is also in good repair.

To be honest I'm somewhat baffled as to why there have been so many serious collisions there as driver behaviour is the only obvious (to me) reason.

In posting the above I hope nobody thinks I am referring to any specific collision. I am not.
 
I drive the r
I drive the road quite often as well. I do think some remedial work could be done, roundabouts at a couple of junctions perhaps, for example the junction at the Fighting Cocks- (its a pub before anyone asks) always makes me nervous but I've also seen too many examples of very bad driving and the nature of the road makes it very difficult for Gardai to do speed traps at key points.

It's actually not that busy a road for the number of accidents on it.
 
I live just off that road and It is a very busy road. Shocking speed at times too.
Driving on that road from Carlow there is a long stretch just before those dangerous bends. Some seem to think it's a race track. I actually know the owner of the Fighting Cocks. There has been talks about taking those bends away for years.. Many the truck has gone into the ditch at the same bends that hasn't even been reported..
 
You are right it is a good road, the surface is good, the signs alert you well in advance as to what you are going to face ahead.

Driver error, speeding, mechanical issue with car or medical issue seem to be the only reasons I can apply to explain the accidents, if you were concentrating and obeying the limit.

I just hope nobody else becomes a victim of it x
 
I drove that stretch recently and had no idea if had such a history.

Compared to many roads in the West it’s pretty flat and bends are not severe.
 
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