Action needed to stop lorries getting stuck under bridge in East Cork town

Lorries are getting stuck at least once a month under one of the 'most bashed bridges' in the country — and when crashes occur there, it brings a town to a standstill.

Cork county councillors are demanding action to prevent further incidents at the Bailick Bridge in Midleton — which is an underpass on the N25 main Cork to Waterford road — as the situation has become a “running joke”.

Despite the installation of height-warning signs on approaches, lorry drivers are getting stuck under the bridge on a regular basis, leading to traffic chaos.

Councillors want the county engineer to address the low height of the underpass, which was constructed as part of the Midleton bypass in 1985.

Fine Gael councillor Michael Hegarty said while the bridge was under the auspices of Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII), the approach roads are under the control of the council and as such, it should not need TII permission to install “bash barrier beams” on either side of it.

Warning

He explained these beams are like goalposts with little flexible strips of chains that hit the top of a lorry, warning the driver it is over the height for the underpass.

Mr Hegarty said a height-restriction barrier had been installed in the area some years ago, but got knocked down by a truck and was removed.

“It’s an awful pity the underpass isn’t higher, but they’re [TII] hardly going to do anything about it now,” Mr Hegarty told a meeting of the East Cork Municipal District Council.

Fine Gael councillor Rory Cocking, chair of the council, said it must act, as repeated accidents are causing serious traffic congestion in the town.

“Lorry drivers must see the height notifications, but they’re still taking a chance. There isn’t a month that goes by now without a lorry getting stuck underneath the bridge,” said Fianna Fáil councillor Ann Marie Ahern.

Running joke

Independent councillor John Buckley said “it’s become a running joke”.

He said there were sensors on approaches to the Jack Lynch Tunnel which detect the height of lorries and automatically bring down barriers to stop over-height ones and suggested such a system could be introduced in Midleton, and while more expensive than what Mr Hegarty suggested, the cost would be justified considering the traffic chaos caused by crashes.

Mr Buckley said since the council had jurisdiction on the approach roads, it did not have to wait for TII permission to take action.