Leitrim councillor calls for speed on road to be tackled before someone is 'badly injured or worse'

Cllr Paddy Farrell asked Leitrim County Council to take immediate action to slow down traffic on the R209-3 at Ballinwing beside the junction for the Leitrim Village before "someone is badly injured or worse".

The official response stated that the council have "heavily invest in the road stated at Ballinwing in recent years. Safety measures have included resurfacing of the carriageway, installation of driver feedback signage and advanced warning lining on the roadway. 

The response concluded: "Current driver feedback signs have been damaged and we will look at relocating these further from the carriageway. We will inform the Garda of your concerns, as they are the enforcement authority for speeding."

Cllr Farrell continued that the speed at the section was "outrageous" and said that he has seen emergency services at the location on "more occasions than I could count on my two hands. It is a very dangerous section of road."

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He said that there should be a continuous white line on the road and "there are children getting off buses on both sides of the road" adding "on some occasions you can meet two cars coming at you at the same time so I think something needs to be done sooner rather than later."

Cllr Sean McGowan said it was "a twisty road and an extremely busy road" adding he didn't know "what the answer to it is". 

He said that it come down to driver behaviour and people "would want to cop themselves on and have respect for other road users."

Cllr Cormac Flynn said the speed issues on the road have been raised five times at council level and said it "is the route to Enniskillen and south Ulster" and it is used by "HGVs and agricultural machinery; the hedges have grown in over the road in areas and I fear the worst for someone on this road; there have been tragedies in the past and I fear we'll see another."

Cllr Enda Stenson supported the motion saying that the use of a speed van at the location would be helpful in bringing speeds down and a continuous white line would also slow down traffic on the road. 

Cllr Maeve Reynolds supported the motion saying the council can "put in all the signs and do all the work they can but at the end of the day, it's driver behaviour and the Gards need to get involved here."

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District Engineer, Emma Donohoe said it was "definitely driver behaviour and we will contact the Gards about the possibility of putting the speed van there. It is a 80km/h speed limit but the reality is that drivers are going a lot faster than that."

Ms Donohoe said that signs warning motorists of walkers need to be moved and that the road could be looked at in the context of "future low cost safety schemes" to tackle the speeding issue.