Longford Councillor calls for safety at 'deadly' junction

A Fianna Fáil councillor has called on Longford County Council to carry out the necessary works to "tighten the junction that leads to Lanesboro Primary School, and to provide a pedestrian crossing" to ensure the safety of school children and other pedestrians.

Cllr Sean Mimnagh submitted and spoke about the motion at last week's March meeting of Ballymahon Municipal District.

"It is very wide and people (motorists) are able to come in at speed into it and especially at drop off time and pick up time," he added.

The motion was seconded by his party colleague Cllr Mick Cahill.

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Cllr Mimnagh told the Longford Leader he has serious safety concerns in relation to the area he described as 'deadly'.

"I have been working with a couple of engineers and they did a few parking spaces that are designated for buses only down there for me outside the school,” he added.

Cllr Mimnagh said that traffic calming measure stopped some cars going down there parking outside the gate and he believes it was a safety risk due to the speed of some of the cars.

"Autistic children can become overwhelmed by noisy traffic as well and they can be a a flight risk.

"The engineers are in agreement to try and get it narrowed and maybe go through the safer routes to school scheme to try and get whatever things are necessary in,” he added.

Cllr Mimnagh outlined there are many parents and children who frequently walk that route and it should be a priority project.

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"There are three housing estates out the road and the kids are walking into school, parents are walking in with them but it's not safe to cross the road there really.

"There is no traffic calming there at all, it's mental to be honest with you and we need to slow down the traffic,” he added.

There was also support for the motion from Cllr Mark Casey, Cllr Paul Ross, Cllr Pat O'Toole and Cllr Martin Skelly.

Area Engineer Brian McNeela said funding will be available in 2026 and it will cover certain measures and they hope to tighten the junction then.

He acknowledged it was an issue that had been raised previously and it was one they hope will be completed in the near future.