Proposal to removal pedestrian footpath from Carrick bridge

At the recent joint meeting of Boyle and Carrick-on-Shannon municipal districts on October 17, Sinn Féin councillor Séadhna Logan raised the possibility of having the footpaths removed from the bridge in Carrick-on-Shannon.

Cllr Logan pointed out that vehicles, particularly coming from the Cortober side, tended to slow to an almost standstill with longer vehicles and articulated lorries having to swing much wider entering the bridge thus influencing or adding to a lot of the congestion and tailbacks, particularly at weekends.

“By removing the two footpaths the two councils would be freeing up additional swing space and creating more room for traffic to meet and pass each other safely on the bridge,” he said.
“With the modern footbridge running along the bridge, these old footpaths no longer serve any real purpose and there is very little reason to justify there continued existence,” he added.

Cllr Logan also believes that by removing the footpaths it will encourage people in larger volumes to use the much safer and appropriate footbridge for crossing the Shannon.
“These old footpaths are quite narrow and not really suitable for the large volumes of people that walk them, particularly at the weekends,” he said.

The Sinn Féin councillor believes that this idea would be an appropriate and relatively cheap solution, and would have the added benefit of addressing two issues in one.