An accident blackspot described as a disaster-in-waiting bore witness to another fatal collision on Tuesday evening as two more young lives were lost on Kilkenny’s roads.
Paul Martin (30 ) from Ashbourne, Co Meath and Brian O’Keeffe (22 ) from Achill, Co Mayo were killed in a head on colllision on the N76 Callan Road at Tennypark.
According to a local councillor, the road has the worst accident record in the county and yet was overlooked for NRA funding last year.
The two men were the sole occupants of a car travelling towards Kilkenny city on the Callan Road when it collided head-first with a lorry at the notorious accident blackspot at 4.25pm on Tuesday evening.
Gardaí are reportedly investigating the possibility that an oil slick on the road may have contributed to the accident, which occurred during heavy rains, causing a worsening of already treacherous driving conditions.
However, Cllr Tom Maher said that the stretch of road, which is particularly narrow and involves a series of sharp bends, had been cause for safety concerns among locals for a number of years.
“I have been campaigning for years to have that road funded for straightening but we haven’t received the money,” he told the Kilkenny Advertiser.
“As chairman of the county council last January, I led a deputation to the NRA and we made a strong case for that road.
“The volume of traffic using the road is enormous and the statistics show that it is by far the most dangerous road in Kilkenny, but they didn’t see fit to fund it.
“The only submissions that received significant funding from that meeting were for Ballynaslee and Thomastown. The Tennypark to Brownstown Road only received the minimum amount.
“It didn’t get the top priority it deserved. The accident record on the Ballynaslee Road wouldn’t be as high as on that road.”
Cllr Maher said the county council had completed the design and part eight phases for the realignment of the road, and were waiting for the approximately €10 million funding from the NRA required to purchase the land and construct the road.
“If the work had been done when we were looking for it six or seven years ago, it would have been done for half the price and many, many lives would have been saved.” And he said he would continue to lobby to have the road included in next year’s programme, although next year would come too late for many.
The two occupants of the car were pronounced dead at the scene of Tuesday’s crash and their bodies were removed to St Luke’s Hospital and later to Waterford Regional Hospital, where a postmorten is expected to be performed later this week.
The driver of the lorry was treated for shock at the scene of the accident, and was later treated for minor injuries at St Luke’s Hospital. The road at the scene was closed off for technical examination and only reopened yesterday afternoon, with a number of traffic diversions put in place during that period.
