PICTURES: Knocknaheeny calls for action on speeding

KNOCKNAHEENY residents gathered at Kilmore Rd today to demand traffic calming measures for the area.

The protest follows a similar one on Harbour View Rd in recent weeks and will be followed shortly with one on Courtown Drive.

The protests are linked to two recent high- profile accidents on Harbour View Rd, as well as several other incidents in recent years.

Kimberly O’Connor, 16, was killed when a car she was travelling in collided with a wall near her home just before midnight on February 19. Another teenager in the car, a boy, was seriously injured and a second teenage boy received less serious injuries.

It also comes after a crash in which a pizza delivery driver received minor injuries in a collision with a stolen car on the same area of the road on May 27. Four youths who were in the stolen car fled from the scene. The car had been stolen in the days before the crash from the Farranree area.

On Tuesday, a young boy was injured in an accident on Harbour View Rd. Garda investigations are under way into all three.

Solidarity councillor Fiona Ryan, who was at the demonstration, said the protests were crucial in getting the message across to the local community but also to apply pressure on the council to ensure something is done.

“The council don’t spend nearly enough money on traffic calming measures and communities have to fight for even the most basic form of the vital infrastructure,” she said.

Ms Ryan said there was no substitute for physical measures, as demonstrated by one car the councillor said, that made a point of maliciously speeding up going past the protest yesterday.

“Physical traffic calming measures are needed to make thing safe,” Ms Ryan said.

Also in attendance at the protest was local Fianna Fáil councillor Tony Fitzgerald.

“There was a great show of community support,” he said about the protest. “It is a partnership between the local residents and the councillors to create an awareness around the need for traffic calming measures in the area.”

Mr Fitzgerald made the point that Harbour View Road is a main thoroughfare between the west of the city and Hollyhill and said local representatives would be bringing the concerns of the community to the council on their behalf.

“We are committed to addressing the issues.”

Ms Ryan also said as a public representative, she was focused on getting the issue resolved through council, but said it was going to be after the summer as meetings were concluding quite soon.

“This is why the protests are so important, we need to keep it on the agenda so we can start with a bang after the break.”