The National Roads Authority has declined to guarantee funding for safety works on a dangerous stretch of one of the county’s busiest routes.
A spate of recent accidents on the Ennis-Lahinch Road, near Kilnamona Cross, had led to calls for Clare County Council and the NRA to take action before someone loses their life.
The latest accident on this portion of the N85 Ennis-Lahinch Road, either side of Kilnamona Cross, occurred on Sunday morning and saw four people hospitalised, including a pregnant woman.
This is not unusual however, with Kilnamona Councillor James Breen estimating that 13 cars have left the road there in the past four months.
He wants action to be taken, and Clare County Council agrees that work is required. It’s appointed a firm to begin the design process and a cost-benefit analysis of various options is underway.
However, the local authority says it needs the National Roads Authority to provide money for the safety works on the over 2km of road.
In a statement to Clare FM, the NRA does not rule out providing this funding but says it’s ‘difficult to guarantee’ it.
A spokesman has told Clare FM that there are a significant amount of historical national secondary routes that are substandard and need improvement, but says funding from government is ‘very limited’.
The NRA says it’s allocation for maintenance and rehabilitation works has been cut by 50%, while funding for major schemes is down 85% from it’s peak. The statement goes onto say that the focus for the remaining moneys will be on maintenance.
