Residents say 'dangerous' Cork road is ‘a fatality waiting to happen’

A ROAD in Kinsale, which has seen a growth in both footfall and vehicular traffic in recent years, has been described as “a fatality waiting to happen”.

A meeting was held to discuss the potential of a trial one-way system for the Rock Hill last week.

The Rock is located near to three new estate developments and has become a safety concern for those living in and around the busy road.

The meeting, held between the residents of Abbey Fort, Kinsale Manor, Ard a Bhaile, and the surrounding area, highlighted these safety concerns for pedestrians who walk via the Rock both to and from the centre of the town.

Dangerous

Simon and his wife Nicola have lived in the Abbey Fort estate for more than 10 years.

“The Rock in itself has always been a problem, it’s quite dangerous,” said Simon. 

“It’s a narrow, minor road and it’s not well lit. Everybody uses it: for the school runs, going to and from work, just general traffic flows through there and it’s quite twisty, there are some very dangerous blind corners.

“It’s a fatality waiting to happen and has been for years. I’ve lost count of the amount of times that myself and my wife have nearly been knocked down and have had to push into the hedgerow to avoid cars,” he added.

“If it was a one way, it would massively deviate the problem. We need, at minimum, lighting and speed restrictions in place, something for ease of pedestrians.”

Ger Murphy, owner of The Greyhound and Market Bar, who was present at the meeting said: “There is no agenda, it’s not about business or politics, it’s about parents who are concerned for their children. It’s so dangerous, it’s an accident waiting to happen, and lighting would be a good first step. It would brighten up the area and make it that bit safer.

“It was a very positive meeting, everyone can see the problem and the council knows we can’t sit on our hands and do nothing. They are going to try a number of things to see what would work, because there’s no hard and fast solution,” Mr Murphy added.

“We stood at one of the pinch points for about fifteen minutes and traffic was crazy. Cars come up the hill over the white line, so anything coming down, generally moving faster, are meeting vehicles that are pushed over and I have to say, it was scary."

“I brought a motion at the district meeting calling on Cork County Council to implement a one-way system with traffic travelling one way up the Rock,” Fianna Fáil councillor Gillian Coughlan said. “This came from numerous complaints I had from people saying that there is a danger to children coming down the hill and crossing the road at an extremely dangerous pinch point.

“People are just afraid that they’re going to witness a dreadful accident, residents don’t want children walking down the road, it’s so narrow and cars are travelling at serious speed,” she added.

“The local engineer has acknowledged that it isn’t ideal, but said that a one-way system cannot be implemented overnight and may not even be the solution. She told us that she will request a speed survey, and has also committed to requesting lights to illuminate the area

“I hold the position that if we are going to have children and pedestrians walking there, we really do need a one-way system,” Ms Coughlan concluded.

Focus

Also present at the meeting was Cork South West Fianna Fáil TD Christopher O’Sullivan. He said: “There has been a lot of development in this part of Kinsale. We now need to put a focus on putting proper infrastructure in place, so that students and families can walk safely from school or Kinsale town to these different estates.

“We also discussed the potential of street lighting in this area and I am really hopeful of progress in this regard,” he added.