Communities ‘seriously considering’ protest over unsafe junctions on Cork-Limerick road 

A number of communities along the main N20 Cork-Limerick road are said to be “seriously considering” blocking the highway in protest at a lack of action by Transport Infrastructure Ireland (TII) regarding several dangerous junctions along the route.

A senior county council official has said that the roads authority was informed as far back as October 29 by the local authority that it has serious safety concerns about several junctions between Rathduff up to Charleville on the Cork-Limerick border.

Meanwhile, the road surface continues to deteriorate.

Councillors are reacting angrily to TII first agreeing to meet them on the issues and later withdrawing the invitation.

A meeting of the council’s northern division heard the division manager and director of roads, Padraig Barrett, confirm TII has been aware of the serious “deficiencies” for months, adding that he would again urge its officials to act on them.

Protests

Fine Gael councillor Liam Madden said a number of communities along the road are “seriously considering” protests which would block traffic as they’re running out of patience with delays in upgrading junctions.

He said people living in Ballybeg, Ballyhea, Moureabbey, and Rathduff are furious with TII’s inaction, adding that “it’s only a matter of time when they will take action themselves” and block the N20.

Mr Madden said he had been bringing up concerns about junctions safety for the past five years.

He said serious incidents were happening at them on a daily basis, and it was only a matter of time before one of them proves to be fatal.

Fine Gael councillor Tony O’Shea said TII has abandoned all the main roads in North Cork, not just the potholed N20 but similar substandard N72 and N73 national secondary routes that connect Fermoy and Mitchelstown with Mallow and onto Kerry.

Unacceptable

Fianna Fáil councillor Pat Hayes said the N20 is one of most heavily used national roads in county, and that the current situation was unacceptable

“I drove recently from Mallow and I was veering left and right all the way to Cork to avoid the potholes. The surface is genuinely unsafe at the moment. The junctions are a constant risk to local communities,” said Mr Hayes.

“People’s lives at risk here and I don’t say that lightly.

“Constituents communing to Cork are complaining about it on a daily basis.”

Aontú councillor Peter O’Donoghue said parts of the N72 from Waterford boundary to Fermoy were also “an absolute disgrace.”

He said TII allocated just €2.6m for repairs when the council said it needed €10m to get the job done properly.

“There are local roads in better condition than national secondary roads,” he said.

Mr Madden asked: “Do we have to stop the traffic to get something done?

“I’m very, very angry. I will be telling communities absolutely nothing is being done [by TII], and they’re not going to stand for it much longer.