Ballyhooly Road a danger for pedestrians warns councillor

PEDESTRIAN safety must not be forgotten about on one of the busiest traffic intersections in the city, a local councillor has warned.

The city council is in the process of preparing a brief for the appointment of a consultant to assess and design the next phase of the Ballyhooly Road upgrade.

Work began on the first phase of the project in late 2017.

The road has seen a number of road traffic accidents in recent years, while residents have also noted a number of near misses too.

Councillor Ted Tynan said he is particularly concerned about the safety of pedestrians due to narrow footpaths near the North Ring Road between Tinker’s Cross and Ballyhooly Road and in particular the section between Boyne Crescent and the Ballyhooly Road.

“In view of the constantly increasing levels of traffic on the R635 North Ring Road in Mayfield, including large volumes of heavy vehicular traffic and given that the construction of a proper North Ring Road is still some way into the future, urgent steps [need to be taken] to protect pedestrians,” he said.

“I am very concerned about the footpath on the southern side between Tinker’s Cross and the Ballyhooly Road junction and the section between Boyne Crescent and the Ballyhooly Road. It is a very narrow footpath - about a metre from heavy traffic, particularly trucks, driving past at speed,” he added.

Mr Tynan said he fears for people with buggies and has heard of a mother that slipped and fell on the footpath on the road due to loose stones and suffered a scare when a truck sped past.

He has called for remedial measures be carried out to prevent soil and debris falling onto the footpath from the raised embankment on the southern side of the footpath.

City Hall director of roads and transportation Gerry O’Beirne said the Ballyhooly Road upgrade scheme will run from the North Ring to Ballincolly in Dublin Hill.

“The area will be inspected with a view to improving the safety of pedestrians using the footpath and also to identify the extent of damaged fencing on the northern side of the road," he added.