Councillors in the Athlone area have asked that Westmeath County Council write to the Minister for Transport to request the Athlone bypass retain its existing dual carriageway status - in spite of recommendations from both the National Roads Authority and the council that it be upgraded to motorway status.
The council’s director of services for the Athlone area, Barry Kehoe, has submitted the letter which he says “communicates the wishes of the members”, who were concerned that the designation of the stretch of the N6 as motorway would mean that slow moving or heavy traffic would be diverted into town, causing further congestion.
However, Mr Kehoe had strongly advised councillors at Wednesday’s Athlone area meeting that the removal of non-motorway traffic from the bypass would greatly enhance the safety of the route. “Our primary consideration is the people of the town, and it would be dangerous to have a section of non-motorway in the centre of the country with 80 kilometres of motorway on either side. Motorists would not be expecting pedestrians or slow-moving vehicles and would not be able to adjust to this type of traffic; it would be better to have it motorway and remove vulnerable road users,” he said.
If the Minister for Transport declares the route is to become motorway, as advised by the NRA, Mr Kehoe says the council will still be proposing that the speed limit be reduced to 100kph. “It is considered that the 120kph speed limit is inappropriate, given the urban nature of the road, the number of junctions, and the design characteristics,” councillors were told.
Nonetheless, they remained concerned for motorists, cyclists, and pedestrians who would be prohibited from using the bypass if it becomes motorway, as well as the potential effect of the decision on traffic in the town centre.
“The Dublin-Galway motorway is a new state-of-the-art road but the bypass is not. This is not about the motorway either side, but about taking vehicles into the town. If this goes ahead we will be writing to the Minister at a later date to ask for another relief road,” said Cllr Kevin ‘Boxer’ Moran, who proposed the letter be drafted to the Minister.
Cllr Frankie Keena reminded the council executive that the Athlone bypass had originally been built as a relief road, designed to alleviate the town’s traffic problems. “It was supposed to take traffic problems out of the town, but if it becomes a motorway it will cause congestion in the middle of town, where we have enough congestion as it stands,” he warned.
Fine Gael’s Cllr Mark Cooney said he was “in two minds” about the proposal. “At the moment the Athlone bypass is the end of the existing motorway, but in the next two years there will be a similar motorway at the other side to Galway. It would be unusual to have a stretch of road with a limit of 100 kph in the middle. Perhaps the decision was short-sighted and they should have bypassed the relief road with the motorway.”
However his party colleague Cllr John Dolan, who seconded Cllr Moran’s proposal, argued that while it might be unusual to have a stretch of dual carriageway surrounded by motorway, there were no alternatives available for slow-moving vehicles to get around the town. “They tend to stay in the hard shoulder anyway,” he pointed out.
Cllr Moran also voiced concern for farmers whose lands were divided by the ‘relief road’ and who use it to travel to different parts of their farm, and for children “who shouldn’t be crossing the road but are”. “If our submission fails, the NRA should not increase the speed limit until they take measures to do what we’ve asked and put in fencing where kids are crossing the road,” he said.
While acknowledging that the bypass was originally built as a relief road, Mr Kehoe pointed out that there was no motorway either side of it at that time.
“I believe the speed limit should be reduced to 100kph, but this is a matter for Westmeath County Council to decide. If the NRA designates this section motorway, we will make a submission to have the speed limit reduced to 100kph,” he said.
